Gayton McKenzie Backs Ntshavheni’s Tough Stance On Illegal Miners, Says "Let There Be Lots Of Smoke"
South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has expressed his support for Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who recently insisted that the government would not attempt to rescue the illegal miners trapped underground—reportedly numbering in the thousands.
The statement has sparked intense debate across the country, after Ntshavheni labeled the stranded miners as “criminals” and declared that the government would “smoke them out.”
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Ntshavheni said that the government would not put the lives of police officers and military personnel at risk by sending them down the shafts to rescue what she referred to as “criminals.”She said:
We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. We are not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted [sic].
We didn’t send them there, and they didn’t go down there for the good benefit or for the good intentions for the Republic. So, we can’t help them.
Those who want to help them, they must go and take the food down there. They will come out, we will arrest them.
Commenting on X, McKenzie expressed his support for Ntshavheni, adding that there should indeed be “lots of smoke.” He wrote on X in response to a clip of Ntshavheni’s remarks:
Thank you Minister (Ntshavheni), let there be smoke, lots of smoke… Why don’t we get them some pizza with extra cheese toppings and a few bottles of wine whilst they making they mind up if they want to resurface ? Guns & grenades are being hidden down there, these guys are buying time, no one is trapped, they are simply refusing to come up & out.
Another South African, Lindo Mnisi, concurred with McKenzie, saying criminality should never be tolerated. He wrote:
The South African government must deal decisively with these criminals. Anybody who stands firm against illegal foreigners and criminals, will be supported and protected by all of us. Thank you Minister Ntshavheni for the decisive stance. We must stop tiptoeing around illegalities. Smoke them out!
On the other hand, Helen Zille, federal chair of the Democratic Alliance, has called for a more empathetic approach to the issue of trapped illegal miners in Stilfontein, North West.
Commenting on X in response to a post by Newzroom Afrika, Zille said that the situation should be handled with compassion, as it directly impacts people’s lives.
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