The South African police intensified efforts to force hundreds of illegal gold miners holed up in underground shafts to the surface so they can be arrested.

The Stilfontein mine is a crime scene,” Ramaphosa said, adding that police must secure the area while ensuring the miners' safe return...."

A South African court ordered police to end a standoff with illegal miners to allow emergency workers to gain access to a mine shaft where several hundred are believed to remain after the government cut off vital supplies.