Two South African soldiers died on Friday after falling down a mine shaft during an operation targeting illicit mining, a police spokeswoman said.
The deaths are the first military fatalities since President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed troops in March to bolster police operations against crime and illegal mining.
The incident occurred at an abandoned mine west of Johannesburg as soldiers pursued suspected illegal miners, known locally as “zama zamas”, police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe said.
The soldiers fell into an open vertical shaft at the abandoned mine, she said.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said the incident occurred at about 6:00 am (0400 GMT).
It said efforts to formally identify the soldiers and notify their next of kin were under way.
The clandestine artisanal miners, many from neighbouring countries, have become an entrenched presence in the shantytowns that ring Johannesburg and its satellite settlements along the gold reef.
Driven by poverty and unemployment, the zama zamas — which means “those who try” in the Zulu language — descend deep into still gold-bearing shafts abandoned by mining companies or dig out new ones.
The sector has been linked to organised crime, assassinations, extortion and other illegal activities.
Last week, security forces rounded up more than 200 mostly undocumented foreign national during a swoop on a gold mine shaft west of Johannesburg.
More than 100 of them were from Lesotho, police said. Mozambicans, Zimbabweans and South Africans were also arrested, and guns and ammunition confiscated.
The raid comes as South Africa is cracking down on undocumented migrants, with more than 150,000 returning home in recent weeks according to an AFP tally, based on figures provided by African countries that have repatriated their nationals.
Codenamed “Operation Prosper,” the military deployment is due to last a year and mobilises more than 2,200 soldiers.
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