A gang leader suspected of running illegal gold mining operations in South Africa has escaped police custody. An investigation and manhunt have been launched to find him and those who helped him get away.South African authorities have launched a manhunt for James Neo Tshoaeli, a gangster known by the nickname “Tiger,” as well as an investigation to find out who in the South African police force helped him escape custody.
The Lesotho national is suspected of being an illegal gold mining ringleader.
Tshoaeli was among hundreds of people in an abandoned mine in Stilfontein when police held it under siege for months, cutting off food and water in an effort to arrest them.
The siege ended last week with a state-sponsored rescue mission in which 248 miners and 78 corpses were finally retrieved from the mine.
Authorities were harshly criticized for their approach, but South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said: “You have got people who voluntarily entered mines and did some illegal activities and in the process died inside those mines. To then come back and say the state is going to take the blame for that, in my view, is misplaced
