Dozens of volunteers have entered an abandoned gold mine in South Africa to help what could be thousands of illegal miners who have been underground for a month.

As the miners entered the Stilfontein shaft on purpose, desperate to retrieve gold or mineral scraps, the authorities have cracked down, blocking food and water supplies.

Earlier this week, a minister said: “We will smoke them out.”

The miners have refused to cooperate with authorities because some are undocumented migrants and fear deportation or arrest.

There are reports of the miners eating vinegar and toothpaste to survive underground.

It is feared that their health may deteriorate, and they may be too weak and frail to leave the mine themselves.

The volunteers, who are organized into three groups of 50, say it takes about an hour to get one person out.

Lebogang Maiyane has been volunteering since the beginning of the week.

“The government does not care about the impact on the right to life of the illegal miners who remain underground – this is tantamount to murder,” he said.

Illegal miners are called “zama zama” (“take a chance” in Zulu) and operate in abandoned mines in the mineral-rich country. Illegal mining costs the South African government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales each year.

The police are hesitant to enter the mine because some of the underground may be armed.

Some are part of criminal syndicates or “recruited” to be in one, Busi Thabane, of the Benchmarks Foundation, a charity that monitors companies in South Africa, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

Many South African mines have been closed in recent years and workers have been fired.

To survive, the miners and undocumented migrants go underground to escape poverty and dig up gold to sell on the black market.

Some spend months underground – there is even a small economy of people selling food, cigarettes and cooked food to the miners.

Local residents have pleaded with the authorities to help the miners, but they have refused.

“We will smoke them out. They will come out. We will not send help to criminals. Criminals should not be helped – they should be persecuted (sic),” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Wednesday.

A father, whose two sons are underground, said the minister’s comments were “appalling”.

“These people are people. These people have families,” he told the BBC.

Relatives of the miners have protested near the mine, holding placards with the words: “Smoke ANC” and “Down with Minister in the Presidency”.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu visited the site on Friday, but when he tried to speak to community members waiting to hear news of their loved ones in the shaft, he was chased away.

Thandeka Tom, whose brother is in the mine, criticized the police for not sending help.

“They are speaking from a point of privilege, there is a problem of unemployment in the country and people are breaking the law trying to put food on the table,” she told the BBC.

Without access to supplies, conditions underground are said to be dire.

“This is no longer about illegal miners – this is a humanitarian crisis,” Thabane said.

On Thursday, community leader Thembile Botman told the BBC that volunteers had used ropes and safety belts to pull a body out of the mine.

“The stench of decomposing bodies has left the volunteers traumatized,” he said.

It is unclear how the person died.

Although the authorities have blocked food and water, they have temporarily allowed local residents to send down some supplies by rope.

Mr Botman said they had communicated with the miners through notes written on paper.

The police have blocked off entrances and exits in an attempt to force the miners to come out.

This is part of the Vala Umgodi, or “Close the Hole”, operation to curb illegal mining.

Five miners were pulled out on Wednesday with ropes, but they were frail and weak. Paramedics attended to them and then they were taken into police custody.

In the past week, 1,000 miners have turned up and been arrested.

The police and army are still at the scene waiting to detain those who are not in need of medical attention after resurfacing.

“It’s not as easy as the police make it seem – some of them fear for their lives,” says Thabane.

Many miners spend months underground in unsafe conditions to support their families.

“For many of them, it’s the only way they know how to put food on the table,” Thabane said.

The South African Human Rights Commission says it will investigate the police for depriving the miners of food and water.

It said there is a concern that the government’s activities may have an impact on the right to life.

Illegal mining is a lucrative business in many of South Africa’s mining towns.

Since last December, nearly 400 high caliber firearms, thousands of bullets, rough diamonds and money have been confiscated from illegal miners.

This is part of an intensive police and military operation to stop the practice, which has serious environmental consequences.

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