Rescuers bring out survivors and dead from a South African mine as hundreds remain deep underground

Our mandate was to combat criminality and that is exactly what we’ve been doing,

Athlenda Mathe, the national spokesperson for the South African police, told journalists at the site

These miners, many of them undocumented and desperate workers from Mozambique and other Southern African countries, were left to die in one of the most horrific displays of state wilful negligence in recent history,

the South African Federation of Trade Unions said in a statement on Tuesday

Gwede Mantashemining Minister

It’s a criminal activity. It’s an attack on our economy by foreign nationals in the main,

Mantashe said, speaking at the site on Tuesday

It’s increasingly worrying to see how the situation has been handled by the police,

Jessica Lawrence, a human rights lawyer, who was at the scene, told Al Jazeera

By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners, it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive,

she said

It is unconscionable that the South African government allowed this situation to deteriorate to such an extent. While it is true that these miners were engaged in illegal mining activities, driven by desperation and extreme poverty, their actions do not justify condemnation to death by starvation,

the union’s statement said

There is no way on earth anyone can come and say: 'I know for certain that there are so many',

he said

Ruthless toward the Zama Zamas and the community."

Meshack Mbangula, an activist from a mining group, described the operation as "brutal," adding

We don’t know exactly how many people are remaining there,

South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told broadcaster eNCA

It was ... When each one of the miners who are underground went there, no one was counting.”

he said, adding

Our volunteers confirmed with us yesterday that there are more than 400 live illegal miners who are still trapped, and our own volunteers confirmed — who went down there — that there are more than 100 dead bodies,

Jam said

The increase in illegal mining activities in seven hotspot provinces, which include Mpumalanga where we are now and North West Province where we are heading to later this afternoon, called for an immediate integrated and multidisciplinary approach to put a stop to these illicit mining activities,

South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner Sehlahle Fannie Masemola said

If you come out and you are able to walk they take you straight to the cells,

said Mzukisi Jam, a civil society activist, who has been at the site throughout the rescue operation

If you stand at the sides you can see the bodies being taken out of the cage and it’s incredibly distressing,

said Jessica Lawrence of civil rights group Lawyers for Human Rights, who was at the scene

Even the illegal miners that are at the bottom, they’re quite keen to get into the cage so we’re loading as many people as we can at one time and we bring them up to the surface,

he told Johannesburg’s Radio 702.

We are happy that this operation is happening, even though we believe that if it was done earlier, we wouldn’t even have one dead person,

said Mzukisi Jam, the regional chairperson of the South African National Civics Organization, an umbrella for civic and rights groups

The last time I spoke to my brother was in July, when he told us that he is going underground,

said Zinzi Tom, a sister of one of the miners who remained underground

Please help us. Bring us food or take us out."

He adds

Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted."

She added

All 82 that have been arrested are facing illegal mining, trespassing and contravention of the immigration act charges,

police Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said in a statement