4 held over illegal gold, ammunition

POLICE have arrested four people after a shootout between police and illegal miners, known as zama zamas, in Daveyton last week.

Gold dust, 15 gold nuggets, R21 000 cash and explosives were recovered.

On Saturday, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) stopped a vehicle being driven in the area, spokesman Clifford Shongwe said.

“EMPD members spotted a red Ford Fiesta coming out of the same area... When they stopped the vehicle, three of the occupants ran away but they were later caught. When they searched the vehicle, they found gold dust,” he said.

Officials accompanied the driver of the car to his home in Welgedacht, where they found the nuggets of gold, cash and explosives.

“They are to be charged with illegal possession of gold dust, gold and ammunition,” Shongwe said.

On Thursday morning, heavy gunfire rattled through an abandoned mine in Daveyton, as police tried to defuse tension between rival mining gangs at shaft 13.

Officers from the dog unit; flying squad; tracking and explosives unit; public order policing and the EMPD were involved in the operation.

As police approached, they found rival zama-zama gangs engaged in a battle over mining territory, which had escalated into a shootout. When the armed group spotted the officers, they threw a grenade at them. Police opened fire on the miners, hitting one.

“He sustained critical injuries and was taken to hospital, where he remains under police guard,” Shongwe said at the time, adding that one of the illegal miners had been arrested.

The body of a miner, believed to have been killed by a rival gang, was also found at the mine.

This is not the first incident involving violence between zama zamas.

Last weekend, the bodies of four men, believed to be zamazamas, were found near the mineshaft with gunshot wounds to their heads.

Three weeks ago, two children were critically injured when illegal miners entered an informal settlement and opened fire on residents.