.jpg)
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said the group had been operating at the disused mine in the Nkaneng informal settlement near the city of Rustenburg, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Johannesburg.
Authorities did not provide detailed information on the circumstances surrounding the miners’ deaths or the number of people injured or trapped, as investigations were still underway.
South Africa, one of the world’s largest producers of gold and other precious minerals, faces a major challenge from illegal mining, with many unemployed people entering abandoned mines in search of remaining precious metals.
It is illegal to enter an abandoned mine shaft in South Africa, but many illegal miners still find ways to access them.
There are many closed mine shafts scattered across the country, and cases of miners becoming trapped, killed or injured are common.
Abandoned mines have attracted large numbers of illegal miners from both within the country and elsewhere in the southern African region.
South African police said on Tuesday that 14 illegal miners had died and scores of others had been injured at a disused mine near Rustenburg in the North West province.
North West provincial police commissioner Lt. Gen. Arthur Adams said a search was ongoing and it was not yet clear if there were more victims. Sniffer dogs and specialized equipment were deployed to search for any others trapped underground.
The cave-in happened while the miners were operating illicitly near the city of Rustenburg, a hub for platinum mining in South Africa about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.
Tens of thousands of artisanal miners work illegally in South African gold and platinum mines that are no longer used by mining companies or dig their own mines to search for deposits. They often operate without proper safety equipment and sometimes stay underground for weeks.South Africa has the largest platinum reserves in the world.
Three of the miners injured in the collapse were released from a hospital and placed under arrest on suspicion of illegal mining. The five others who were hurt remained in the hospital under police guard, Adams said.
Illegal mining is a deep problem in South Africa and is connected to criminal syndicates, according to authorities. The informal miners are renowned and known as zama zamas, which translates loosely as “chance takers.”
They often operate in gangs that fight violent battles with rivals and are accused of terrorizing local communities.
South Africa's most recent major disaster involving illegal mining was in late 2024, when hundreds of miners became trapped underground at a gold mine that had been surrounded by police.
The standoff lasted months and more than 80 miners died underground, according to authorities.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took the unusual step earlier this year to deploy soldiers on the streets in a yearlong operation to combat organized crime, with illegal mining one of the focuses of the operation.
Police did not give more details. A senior provincial police official is on the way to the scene.
Illegal mining has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organised criminal networks
Typically, undocumented miners move into mines abandoned by commercial miners and seek to extract whatever is left. Some are under the control of violent criminal gangs.
Illegal mining costs the government and mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost sales, taxes and royalties.