South African Public, Govt Seek Action Against Illegal Miners

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has said that it will be writing to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to consider the deployment of soldiers in the province to "to end the scourge of illegal mining in the province once and for all". Ths comes after a 32-year-old man from Riverlea, Johannesburg, was shot and killed in the crossfire between illegal miners (zama zamas) and police.

Further, a gas leak in Boksburg that resulted in the deaths of 17 people has also been attributed to illegal mining activity. Solly Nonyane, a traditional leader in the Angelo informal settlement in the area, said the community is "under siege" from illegal miners.

Additional incidents in recent years involving zama zamas include a case where approximately 300 illegal miners attacked and shot at police and security officers when the officers tried to prevent them from delivering food parcels to underground miners. In June 2022, about 150 illegal miners stormed gold miner Sibanye-Stillwater's mothballed Cooke shaft near Randfontein in an attempt to gain control.

More recently, Emalahleni in the province of Mpumalanga - which is home to the country's largest coal reserves - has become a site of illegal mining activity with underground fires being started, spreading smoke and noxious fumes without plans of how they may be extinguished.