Illegal miners need official stance
IT IS time for the mining companies and mineral resources ministry to issue a pronouncement on the scourge of illegal mining in SA. The illegal miners, or zamazamas, (Nguni for one who ekes out a desperate life at the edges of illegality) have been operating in these mines for years and the government apparently has no way of ending this illicit and dangerous enterprise.
SA has more than 6,000 mines that have been abandoned by companies over the years in the face of falling profits, so there is no shortage of opportunity for illegal miners.
Thousands of mines lying dormant, while thousands of retrenched mine workers have been left jobless — it makes for a recipe for chaos.
As a result, there are 8,00030,000 illegal miners in the country, according to the South African Human Rights Commission. Its 2009 report revealed that most illegal miners are under the control of criminal syndicates, and that some work with the so-called legitimate companies to exploit vulnerable people.
These illegal operations are occurring on an industrial scale, but without the required specialised mining equipment, making the problem almost impossible to contain and vastly increasing the risks involved.
I vividly remember two years ago when a group of 20 people, predominantly Zimbabweans, died from carbon monoxide poisoning in an unused mine shaft near Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg.
In another incident, as many as 200 people were allegedly trapped underground after a gang of rival zama-zamas had blocked the entrance to a shaft near Brakpan, east of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg is known for its gold worldwide, but with mines closing down and owners not taking responsibility, the consequences for communities left behind in the dust have been severe.
Illegal mining is dangerous work to begin with, but it has been made far worse due to the emergence of armed gangs affiliated to the zamazamas, who kidnap rival miners and force them to work in slave-like conditions underground.
Murders and catastrophic underground accidents are regular occurrences in these mines.
It is well-documented that the primary reasons for the scourge of illegal mining are poverty, unemployment and the large number of illegal immigrants in SA.
These illegal miners are not risking their lives just because they are greedy, but because they are desperate to make a living.
In most cases, security guards and policemen take bribes from the zama-zamas to give them easy access to the shafts.
Taking all of this in mind, one wonders whether the call by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to eradicate illegal mining in Gauteng can bear fruit. The minister said during his recent visit to a disused shaft in Langlaagte that more than 200 shafts had been closed by the department and mining companies, thus cutting off illegal access to disused mining operations. But will these measures really alleviate the problem?
At the disused mine in question, one death was reported and dozens of the illegal miners were trapped following an underground release of carbon monoxide.
The Langlaagte shaft scenario on its own justifies the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM’s) argument that owners of the properties are no longer taking full responsibility for disused mines, posing a serious challenge to the entire country.
Following its central committee meeting in June, NUM general secretary David Sipunzi challenged the authorities to consider decriminalising zama-zamas so that the government can at least get some revenue from the operations through tax. Of course, this would also facilitate proper regulation of such smallscale mining as a way of minimising dangers and neutralising the criminal elements who send these desperate people underground without adequate safety precautions. Chilwane is a media officer at the NUM.
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