Zama zamas make lives a living hell

There is no government that can allow illegal miners, who are in the country illegally, to terrorise its citizens. But the South African government folded its arms and watched while illegal miners terrorised its citizens.

For years, the so-called zama zamas made the lives of West Rand citizens a living hell.

They killed, raped and demanded protection fees from citizens. The police knew about it but did nothing.

In Soul City, Kagiso, zama zamas took spaza shops by force. The non-Sotho speakers who owned spazas were coerced to pay protection fee.

They also killed men and raped women with impunity. Is there a rule of law in this country?

Recently, Kagiso residents took it upon themselves to fight and apprehend the zama zamas. They apprehended more than 10 of them. Subsequently, MunGolfer sieville and Mohlakeng residents apprehended more zama zamas.

Last Sunday, the Police Minister Bheki Cele and Gauteng premier David Makhura visited Kagiso. As expected, they made all sorts of promises to stop the crime against citizens.

We all know that they were just paying a lip service.

Cele and Makhura did not explain why they allowed zama zamas to make the lives of the West Rand citizens a living hell. This shows that they don’t take us seriously.

There is a strong view that some of our leaders are behind the zama zamas. They use them to dig minerals in unused mines and sell these in the black market. Hence, they protect illegal miners.

If the above is true, that means West Rand citizens are on their own. So, they should forget about what Cele and Makhura said on Sunday. Instead, they should be ready to defend themselves against zama zamas and criminals. Thabile Mange