Risking their lives for scraps of a fortune
Mob Mining | Organised crime syndicates control the bloody battle for gold estimated to be worth R6-billion a year
EVERY day, George Mmako risks his life trying to scrape together the gold left over at abandoned mines near Secunda, Mpumalanga — once a hive of mining activity.
Thousands of gold mines have been abandoned in South Africa, where gold has been mined for more than a century, as mines get older and cost pressures squeeze companies to such an extent that they have to close marginal mines.
But the pickings left are still very profitable, attracting organised crime syndicates and mobster-like bosses.
Many of these illegal miners, or zama zamas, as they are called, are even brazen enough to mine at fully operational mines, bribing everyone from security officers to other legal miners.
Nash Lutchman heads the fight against illegal mining at Sibanye Gold, the largest producer of gold from South African mines.
“These guys pay huge amounts of money in bribes to gain access to our shafts. There is money to be made and peripheral industries are created through illegal mining. Like in Welkom, they found these food houses where they prepare and pack mealiemeal for these guys,” Lutchman said.
Sibanye’s security manager at Westonaria, Gordon Crundwell, said that was why illegal miners were often tolerated by communities, even though they sometimes brought other problems such as robberies and rape.
Illegal mining has created a complex criminal industry that is estimated to generate R6-billion a year.
As money often does, it is also attracting other sins such as prostitution, robbery and especially gang violence.
Mmako, who was born in Lesotho, said he used to be a miner. He is caught in the middle of a gang war in which 20 people have been shot in the Secunda area in recent months.
Wearing tattered old trousers and a blue overall top and sitting glumly in front of his shack, he blamed the other gang for the violence.
“The way they did it was wrong,” he said, adding that there was always an agreement to fight close to the shafts or the bushes.
But last month, residents of Enkomeni, on the outskirts of Secunda, woke up to the sound of gunfire and the voices of men walking around with guns and pangas. Six people were killed. It was a revenge attack. There are two big groups of zama zamas operating in the area: the yellow gang, named Kubo ya Trein; and the grey and black gang, called Kubo ya Litlama. “Kubo” refers to the Lesotho tradition of wearing blankets come rain or shine.
According to Mmako, there was a sort of “gentleman’s agreement” between the gangs to separate shift times.
“We agreed on some terms. For example, when we go down, say, on a Tuesday afternoon, we will come out around two in the morning on Wednesday.
“On Wednesday they will go down in the afternoon and likewise they will come out in the early hours of the morning on Thursday.”
He said the schedule worked well, until one day late last year when they were just finishing their shift.
“The Kubo ya Litlama stormed the shaft and started shooting at us randomly. We fought back and 14 of them were killed.
“The latest attack on us is definitely a revenge for this. But it is cowardice because we had agreed that if we engage in fights we should take them to the isolated places,” he said.
This gang war is just one of many as a result of illegal mining on South Africa’s gold mines in recent years. Most of this is driven by organised crime.
The Department of Mineral Resources agrees that dangerous, well-financed and complex local and international crime syndicates are fuelling the illicit mining. “Some of the illegal miners belong to the well-organised crime syndicates who are also involved in other criminal activities, like human trafficking.”
Mmako said a man came to collect the partially processed gold from them every few days.
But he would not be pushed for more details.
Twenty-five men were arrested in relation to the gang violence in Secunda. Twentythree are from Lesotho, most without identity papers.
Lutchman estimated that 80% to 90% of illegal miners were from neighbouring countries, where socioeconomic factors are even more pressing than in South Africa. It is estimated that there are 14 000 illegal miners in the country.
The Times reported this week that the Hawks had clamped down on forged gold serial numbers, fake custom clearance documents and even armoured vehicles believed to be linked to a large Zimbabwe-South Africa gold-smuggling syndicate that has been investigated over the past two years.
The Hawks has shifted its focus to the syndicates, rather than just focusing on the illegal miners, who can usually only be prosecuted for theft or trespassing.
Recently, three men were arrested for being in possession of R4-million in unwrought gold in a security complex in Brakpan.
A follow-up investigation led to the arrest of two Zimbabwean men in Morningside.
A year ago, police seized R20-million worth of unmarked gold bars outside Pretoria.
But men like Mmako, while being at the forefront of this dangerous industry, will never see the real money behind it.
For Mmako, it’s about survival, trying to feed himself and his family in Lesotho, while waiting for “the man” to come and take the rest.
It is estimated that there are 14 000 illegal miners in the country