Police say the gold miners who had temporarily blocked a shaft over the last two years will be charged with illegal mining. They say the miners were examined by paramedics before being taken away to the nearby police station.
Some of the illegal miners came to the surface earlier on Monday. Others were rescued on Sunday and have already been charged.
At least 200 illegal miners are believed to be trapped underground. Many of them are believed to be illegal migrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho.
Emergency workers battled for most of the day trying to persuade illegal miners to vacate an abandoned mine shaft in Benoni. The miners want an assurance from police that they will not be arrested.
Meet the new boss, same as the old
The media has been barred from talking to those who resurfaced voluntarily. Some say they fear for their lives while others appear to be evading arrest.
Various tactics were explored as one miner was asked to convince the rest of the group to come out. Another was used as a decoy and sent back underground to reassure them his buddies can come out and have the same treatment of patient care.
An unknown number will not budge. EMS spokesperson, Sugan Moodley says the miners are very reluctant to come out, due to the fact that once they come out "they will assess them, treat them if need be and then what happens there after hand them over to SAPS organised crime unit." The men face charges of illegal mining, some have already appeared in court.
Bullion Producer Gold One, which owns the mine, had blocked the shaft with a large slab to prevent access but the illegal miners burrowed around it. The slab then shifted, blocking their exit until it was removed by rescue workers.
Illegal miners do serious damage to the environment and they can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time.
I've seen them divert huge rivers, leave massive excavations in the ground. Many people think an illegal miner is just one or two people but they come in droves. I worked close to a site where there were various illegal miners - they had more earth moving equipment than we had with their 200 excavators moving 1 cubic meter of dirt with every scoop. I've seen them poison areas with mercury - leaving hundreds of kilos of it behind after many years of using it an losing it.
I don't think this is about "Free South Africa" or democracy - illegal mining is very detrimental to any country. Illegal miners are not bound by regulations or rules and they are there to exploit as much as they can as fast as they can without any respect for the health of the land.