THE police are winning the war against zama zamas.
According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, more than 4 000 people have been arrested for various offences related to illegal mining, and more than 7 000 were bust in connection with contravening immigration regulations.
Writing in his weekly letter on Monday, 13 November, the president said the specialised Illegal Mining Task Teams set up by the South African Police Service (SAPS) last year to conduct operations against illegal mining around the country have been at the forefront of this war.
“The fight against illegal mining is seeing results. Last week, the ministers in the government’s Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster reported on significant progress in curbing this criminal activity and arresting those responsible,” he said.
He pointed out that the disruptive operations undertaken against the syndicates have resulted in the forfeiture of assets and freezing orders against the assets of suspects by the Hawks and the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
He said illegal mining was linked to other crimes such as money laundering, bribery and corruption, illicit financial flows, human and weapons trafficking, and other forms of organised crime.
Ramaphosa recently authorised the deployment of 3 300 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members to support the police for six months to break the illegal miners, also known as zama zamas.
“The SANDF deployment supports a multi-sectoral effort that brings together the SAPS, State Security Agency, the newly formed Border Management Authority and the departments of Mineral Resources and Energy, Home Affairs, Justice and Constitutional Development, Environmental Affairs and others,” he said.
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He said recent incidents have shown some of the devastating effects of illegal mining on the safety of communities.
He said these incidents include the gang rapes in 2022 of a group of women allegedly by illegal miners, an underground gas explosion at a disused mine in Welkom in May that killed 31 illegal miners, and a gas explosion linked to illegal mining activity at an informal settlement in Boksburg in June that claimed dozens of lives.
“Our efforts to end illegal mining cannot focus only on the miners but also on those people further up the value chain who benefit. As Minister Gwede Mantashe said last year, 'Illegal miners are foot soldiers for criminal syndicates and must be dealt with like any other economic saboteurs',” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said for this fight to be successful, everyone has to play their part. Mining houses that don’t comply with the laws around the closure and rehabilitation of mines have contributed to the abundance of illegal mining.
“We therefore welcome the efforts of the Minerals Council of South Africa to support greater collaboration between government and the mining sector in tackling this problem,” he said.
