STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - Desperate family members of illegal miners believed to number in the hundreds waited outside a disused mine shaft in South Africa on Friday in the hope of their loved ones emerging from the hole in the ground.

Authorities in South Africa have cut off supplies to nearly 4,000 illegal gold miners hiding underground, as the government is making an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them, officials announced Thursday.

South Africa's government says it won't help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.