Dead miners were engaging in sex while gold panning, says sangoma

Gogo Rachel Ncube, a traditionalist based in South Africa concurred with Nkulumane told mourners that she performed a traditional ritual for rescuers to be able to enter the mine.


Sangoma performing rituals at the mine site

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"These boys went into the ground on February, 20 and did not come back. South Africa emergency services officials went down and came back without any body stating temperatures were as high as 400 Degrees.

"On February, 24 I had to go to the mine to perform a traditional ritual with a group of nyangas and two v*rgins. I believe the boys' death was caused by their misconduct underground as they were smoking dagga, drinking beer and engaging in sex while gold panning," she said.

A man who was involved in operations to retrieve 22 illegal miners from a disused mine in Johannesburg yesterday said many more bodies were left trapped underground.