Fatal DRDGold robbery demands a response
The latest gold-theft death happened on Monday night when gunmen stormed DRDGold’s Ergo tailings retreatment plant and killed the chief security guard in a shootout.
The robbers fled with 17kg of gold in concentrate worth about R12m. But they won’t get anything like that. The gold has to be extracted from the concentrate, then refined sold. as It ’far s impossible as possible to say in crude backyard facilities, and what the robbers will get for the gold, but one value can be firmly fixed to that gold: a life.
Such crimes can be expected with total SA unemployment running well above 30%, gold mines laying off thousands of workers in recent years as operations reach the end of their lives or costs rise too high.
SA has Africa’s worst problem with illegal gold flows due to informal miners, called zamazamas, infiltrating working operations or defunct mines for weeks on end to dig out gold in dangerous conditions.
There are an estimated 30,000 of these illegal miners, according to an Institute of Security Studies report in June, contributing towards R14bn of illicit gold flowing out of the country.
One answer is to legalise informal miners, bringing them into the formal industry, ensuring their safety, better working conditions and keeping them out of the grip of big crime syndicates that the SA police haven’t deterred in any meaningful way, despite the problem being around for decades.
The incident at DRDGold is different, however, and needs a different response. This was an armed raid on a company that generates about 12.5kg of gold a day, capturing tiny quantities of gold each hour from the 24-million tonnes of tailings processed.
The gold goes into the crime underworld, and this is where the police and intelligence agencies must focus and make arrests to break up syndicates, cutting off the cash flowing to those stealing gold.
CAPITAL & COUNTIES
Things may be looking up for JSE-listed UK mall owners such as Capital & Counties (Capco), Capital & Regional and Intu Properties. They are starting to see Brexit certainty and catching the eyes of potential suitors.
SA’s largest real estate group Growthpoint Properties said last week it would take over Capital & Regional in a deal close to R3bn after a few companies also made plays for Intu in recent years. On Monday, Capco said it was aware of reports that UK multimillionaire property developer Nick Candy is preparing a consortium for a takeover offer.
Capco’s share price was 8.74% higher at R51.50 at the close on Monday, its best performance since listing in 2010.
Recent years have been messy for these companies. They had to wade through an overhaul of the retail landscape as online shopping took off, leaving traditional shops in the dust. Some retailers adapted their operations and store designs. Others struggled, especially those selling fast fashion, and had to plead with landlords for rentals to be dropped. Since the Brexit referendum on June 23 2016, these companies have seen their share prices battered.
But last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he struck a deal with the EU for Britain to leave the bloc. Any certainty is likely to benefit the UK’s property market, whether Capco or Intu are in new hands and unlisted next year or not.