Mining expert David van Wyk says South Africa’s illegal mining problem cannot be solved through arrests alone, arguing that poor mine closure and unemployment remain the root causes.
By Mapaballo Borotho
Residents of the mining town of Westonaria, near Bekkersdal, say they fear for their safety following the latest crackdown on illegal mining.
Residents, who have endured the impact of illegal mining for years, told Kaya News that when police shut down illegal mining operations, displaced illegal miners often move into surrounding communities.
They claim this is frequently followed by an increase in theft, extortion, and violent crime.
Some residents allege that illegal miners, commonly referred to as zama zamas, target vulnerable members of the community, including women and children, with incidents of robbery, rape and murder contributing to widespread fear in the area.
Their concerns follow the arrest of more than 200 suspected illegal miners at the Losberg Kloof Mine earlier this week.
Although suspected illegal miners are arrested regularly across South Africa, residents say the arrests are not enough and are calling for a permanent police presence in the affected communities.
They fear that displaced illegal miners will move from underground tunnels into nearby residential areas, potentially leading to an increase in crime.
Meanwhile, Kaya 959’s Phemelo Motene spoke to mining expert David van Wyk on Point of View about the scale of illegal mining and the challenges of tackling organised syndicates in South Africa.
Van Wyk said he does not believe that deploying more police officers or members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would make a significant difference.
“When these mines close down, they don’t even close their shafts properly, so people can always gain access to the older shafts. Every time a shaft closes down, thousands of workers lose their jobs, and very often they don’t go anywhere except to the nearest informal settlement. That is how informal settlements grow around mining shafts as well,” he said.
Van Wyk said the weekly arrests of suspected zama zamas do not address the root cause of illegal mining in South Africa.
“The real problem is mine closure in this country, and the Department of Mineral Resources is nowhere to be seen. It is nowhere to be seen when it comes to closing the shafts properly and making sure they are not accessible to other people.
Workers who used to work in those mines know them very well, and when they no longer have an income, they can always go down those shafts to try to make a living.
These illegal miners are mostly foreign nationals because that is how the migrant labour system works,” he added.
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast.
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