In South Africa, mining communities are flourishing inside disused gold mines. Many of these illegal gold miners were previously employed by large mining firms and spend months at a time underground. While they can earn huge profits, the work is also dangerous – and occasionally fatal. Furthermore, there is significant involvement from criminal gangs, which provide weaponry to protect the miners from other gangs, or assist the miners by acquiring food and supplies while they are underground. Many miners have turned to these practices in response to high unemployment rates and poverty and are often extorted by the criminal gangs that run these underground mining communities. Authorities are increasingly cracking down on these underground communities, citing armed gang involvement and lost tax revenue. In attempts to drive out the miners, police have, in some cases, prevented food and water from being lowered into the mining shafts. However, some have argued that harsh crackdowns are an inappropriate response to illegal mining in South Africa, advocating instead for decriminalisation and regulation.