Hunting for allegedly stylfonte kingpin tiger

No one seems to know where the tiger is in South Africa.

A 42-year-old guy from a nearby forest, the real name of any James Neo Coaal, has evaded the police over the last four months.

The detained after the charge of control over the illegal activity on an abandoned gold mine near Stilfonontein in South Africa, where 78 corpses were discovered in January, the tiger escape escaped, police said.

Four police officers who were allegedly assisted by the breakthrough are under the recognizance and are waiting for a trial, but the authorities are not closer to the study of fugitive places.

We went to Lesotho to find out more about this elusive person and hear from those who suffered from underground death.

The Tiger’s house is located near Mohathlong, five -hour ride from Maser’s capital, on the road that will need the mountains of the country.

We visit his elderly mother Mafa Tshoel and his younger brother Tabis.

Unlike the tiger, Tabis decided to stay at home and hind sheep for life rather than joining illegal miners known as Zamas Zamas in South Africa.

None of them saw the tiger for eight years.

“He was a friendly child for everyone,” Ms Tobe recalls.

“He was peaceful even at school, his teachers never complained about him. So he was a good man in general,” she says.

Tabis, five years younger than the tiger, says they both looked after family sheep when they were children.

“When we grew up, he wanted to become a police officer. It was his dream. But it never was because when our father had passed away, he had to become a family leader.”

The tiger, who was 21 years old, decided to follow his father’s footsteps and headed to South Africa to work in the mine – but not in the formal sector.

“It was very difficult for me,” his mother says. “I really felt worried about him because he was still delicate and young at the time. I was also told that to go down into the mine, they used a makeshift rise.”

He would return if he received a vacation or for Christmas. And during his first stay, when his mother said he was the main supplier of the family.

“He really supported us very much. He supported me, giving me everything, even his siblings. He became convinced that their clothes and food.”

The last time his family saw or heard from him was in 2017 when he left Lesotho with his then wife. Soon the couple parted.

“I thought he may have married and his second wife did not allow him to return home,” she says sadly.

“I asked, ‘Where’s my son? “

“The first time I heard that he had been fastening to Stilfontein, I told me a son. He came to my house, holding the phone and he showed me the news on social media and explained that they were saying that the police escaped.”

Police notes that several illegal miners called him one of the leaders of Stylfontein.

His mother does not believe that he might be in this position and says that the vision of his lighting is upsetting.

“It hurts me very much because I think he may die there, and maybe he had already died, or if he was lucky to return home, I may not be here. I will be among the dead.”

A Tiger Friend from Stilfononontein, who just wants to be identified as Ayando, tells me that they shared food and cigarettes before deliveries decreased.

He also questioned the “ruler” label, saying that the tiger was more than the average control.

“He was a boss underground, but he was not the main boss. He was as a leader, the one who could manage the situation when we worked.”

Researcher Mining Makhotla Sales believes that it is unlikely that the tiger was at the top of the illegal mining syndicate in Stilfontein. He says responsible never work underground.

“Illegal mining trade is similar to a pyramid with numerous levels. We always pay attention to the lower tier that is workers. These are those underground.

“But there is a second layer … They supply cash illegal miners.

“Then you have buyers … They buy (gold) from those who deliver money illegal miners.”

At the top are “very powerful” people, with “close proximity to leading politicians”. These people earn maximum money, but do not pollute their hands in the mines.

Substang Hoosanians was one of those at the bottom of the pyramid and he paid his life.

The 39-year-old body was one of those who were found in the Golden Gold Mine in January. He, like many others who died, moved to South Africa.

Going to his village, Bobet, in the Taba-Tsaek area, feels that it is back.

The journey there is complete obstacles.

By crossing the shaky bridge, barely wide enough to keep our car, we face long trips on unphached mountain roads without security barriers.

More than once he feels that we won’t do it to the top.

But when we do it, the landscape is intact. It would seem untouched by the present.

Dozens of small, straw huts, their walls made of mountain stone are placed hills of green hills.

In the neighboring house of the deceased family coincidence is the unfinished house, which he built for his wife and three children.

Unlike most residential premises in the village, the house is made of cement, but it lacks roof, windows and doors.

Empty spaces are an unintended memorial to a person who wanted to help his family.

“He left the village because he fought,” Aunt Mabolokang Hoosanians tells me.

Next to his wife, the coincidence and one of his children lay on the mattress on the floor, sadly looking into space.

“He tried to find the money in Stilfontein, feed his family and put the roof in his home,” says Ms Hoasans.

The house was built with money collected from a previous work trip to South Africa, Squen – a trip, which many of the logs made in decades, made by the possibilities of the much richer neighbor.

His aunt adds that before he came out for the second time, three years ago, his work prospects were non -existent.

“It is very scary here, so he left. Because everything you can do here is to work on short government projects. But you work for a short time and then everything.”

This country’s exit, completely surrounded by South Africa, is one of the poorest in the world. According to official data, the unemployment is 30%, but for young people the rate is almost 50%.

The coincidence family said they did not understand that he was working -until the relative called them to say that he died underground.

They thought he was working in construction and has not heard from him since he left Bobet in 2022.

Ms Hoaasanian says that during the phone call, they were told that what caused the death of most of those who underground in Stilfontein was a lack of food and water. Many of the more than 240 who were saved received very sick.

Stilfontein made global headlines at the end of last year, when police implemented a new controversial strategy to crack illegal mining.

They restricted the flow of food and water into the mine, trying to “smoke” the workers, as one with South African ministers said.

In January, the court ruling forced the government to launch a rescue operation.

The coincidence family says he understands what he was doing was illegal, but they disagree with how the authorities were engaged in the situation.

“They tortured these people hunger, not allowing you to send food and medicine. It makes us very sad that it has long been there without food. We believe it ended with his life,” his aunt says.

The family of the dead miners finally received his body and buried him at the semi -finished product.

But the mother and brother Tiger are still waiting for the news about him. South Africa’s police notes that the search continues, though it is unclear whether they were closer to its search.