Illegal miners ordered to leave
THE THOUSANDS of illegal miners who have been operating in Cassandra, have indicated that they will appeal an interdict handed over yesterday morning to have them removed from the land.
This is according to a representative of the group, Lucky Seekoei, who yesterday confirmed that they had received the court order instructing them to vacate the land or appeal against their removal by next Friday.
“We were handed the interdict ordering us to vacate the area,” Seekoei said yesterday.
“The application was made by Ekapa, Superstone and Crown Resources and says that we have until October 7 to make our appeal.
“We have left the matter in the hands of our lawyers, who are in the process of working on our appeal as we need to work in order to have an income. Should we be forced off this land, we will need to be relocated elsewhere.”
Illegal miners started excavating on land across the road from the Diamond Oval cricket stadium earlier this month, with their numbers quickly reaching thousands and raising great concern among residents of the suburb.
Despite the EFF coming out in support of the miners, residents have demanded their removal, with an online petition in this regard quickly accumulating nearly a thousand signatures.
While Seekoei said that a written statement would be sent to the DFA, none had been received at the time of going to press.
According to residents, operations continue to spread in the area, with illegal miners now beginning to also occupy the land from the De Beers Stadium to the cul-de-sac at David Harris Avenue.
“It’s about time that action be taken against these people,” said one resident.
“We can’t go on allowing crime to take pace on our doorstep. Our property and families are in danger.
“Finally, something is being down about them.”
Police spokesman, Captain Olebogeng Tawana, confirmed yesterday that police had been on hand when the petition was handed over.
“This morning (yesterday) we accompanied a certain official who was in possession of an interdict to serve the illegal miners near Cassandra,” he said. “We do not have the content of the interdict and the name of the official.”
Meanwhile, Mines Rescue Services (MRS), a non-profit organisation that is funded by eight of the country’s largest mining companies, has stated that illegal mining in South Africa is “spiralling out of control”.
The 92-year-old NGO, which was involved in recovering the bodies of illegal miners in a disused shaft in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg, two weeks ago, said it was concerned about the spike in illegal mining.
MRS chief executive Christo de Klerk warned yesterday that the situation was getting worse by the day.
De Klerk said that the proliferation of illegal miners had spiked over the past 10 years.
He said the situation now required urgent government intervention, adding that the organisation had rescued 12 illegal miners and recovered 22 bodies last year.
“Government has to control our borders especially the inflow of illegal immigrants,” De Klerk said.
“Too many illegal miners come from neighbouring countries to find work but find there is no work when they get here.”
The majority of illegal miners were from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, noted De Klerk.
He said illegal miners were working for syndicates who were responsible for providing a market.
“If there is no market the illegal miners will not mine. They (government) need to infiltrate the syndicate behind the illegal mining.”
Neil Metzer, the security co-ordinator at the Chamber of Mines, which represents companies producing more than 90 percent of the country’s mineral production by value, said that the syndicates at the top of the illegal mineral flows had “migrated” to the Northern Cape and he warned that the industry should expect increased levels of illegal mining and theft of copper and metal infrastructure from diamond, manganese and iron ore mines in the region.