Gangs linked to deadly cash heists are said to be plundering SA’s gold mines in brazen attacks which have left the country’s mining community reeling.
The Hawks confirmed that R52m in the precious metal has been stolen since 2018.
Since then, at least 25 gold smelters in Gauteng, North West, the Free State and Mpumalanga have been attacked, according to Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) researchers and mining houses.
A GI-TOC report indicated a spike in attacks is linked to rising gold prices, with syndicates selling their loot through precious metal markets in Dubai, India and China.
It also detailed how gangs use construction vehicles and explosives to break open vaults, regularly take hostages and are skilled at disabling hi-tech CCTV security systems.
Mining houses that have been attacked include Sibanye-Stillwater, Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, DRDGold, Gold One International and Village Main Reef.
Some of the biggest attacks include:
• March 2020 assault on Village Main Reef outside Johannesburg, where 20 gunmen stormed the plant, hijacked a front-end loader and broke into the smelt house, stealing gold-bearing material;
• December 2019 assault on Gold Fields’s South Deep, northeast of Gauteng, where 15 gunmen stole $500,000 worth of gold;
• June 2019 attack on Weltevredenpark’s DRDGold, which saw gunmen kill an employee and steal 15kg of gold-bearing material; and
• May 2019 attack in which 50 robbers overpowered security guards at Gold One International smelting plant on Gauteng’s East Rand and escaped with gold.
“Some of the attacks are done to test the security ... They will launch an attack, fail in their objective, then months later the successful one happens,” researchers who compiled the report said.
The document revealed that in 2019 19 gold facilities were attacked, “up from five in 2018”. GI-TOC said three attacks occurred in 2020, putting the decrease down to SA’s Covid-19 lockdown.
“This may be an underestimate. Not all companies report incidents to the SA Minerals Council.”
The report said more than 100kg of gold was stolen in 2019, with the rise in attacks driven by the rising gold price, “which rose over 17% over the course of 2018 and 2019 to more than $1,500 (about R22,500) an ounce”.
In August 2020 gold was worth more than $2,000 (about R30,000) an ounce. GI-TOC said the rise is also linked to a decline in cash heists.
“In the 2018—2019 financial year, when gold heists became a major phenomenon, CIT heists declined by over 23%, according to police statistics.
“The gangs operate on a risk model ... Risk gets too high and the reward too low, then it’s time to change business models.”
The SA Minerals Council referred questions to the affected mining houses.
Marthinus Taljaard, Sibanye-Stillwater protection services senior manager, said in July 2020 nine robbers took its Ezulwini plant staff hostage in an attempt to get into the smelter house.
He said syndicates were highly organised, with much planning going into the attacks, “even the unsuccessful ones”.
“The attackers know how to disable CCTV systems, neutralise control centres and create diversions to successfully distract security officers.”
He said SA Minerals Council reports showed 25 smelters had been attacked since 2018. “Attacks spiked in 2019. There was a decline in 2020, but we believe that’s linked to the lockdown.”
Taljaard said information indicated CIT gangs had switched to attacking gold mines, with rising gold prices contributing to the spike, which occurred at the same time cash heists dropped.
Harmony Gold spokesperson Sihle Maake said there were two armed attacks at its Kalgold plant in the North West.
“The first took place in 2018, when 12kg of gold was stolen. In 2019, a security contractor was killed in an attempted robbery.”
IN NUMBERS
25: estimated number of gold smelters attacked since 2018
19: number of gold smelters attacked in 2019
R52m: amount of gold stolen since 2018 from attacks on gold smelters
50: number of robbers involved in an attack on a Gold One International mine smelter in 2019
$500,000: value of gold stolen during an attack on a Gold Fields smelter in 2019
Hethen Hira, Pan African Resources investor relations head, said in 2018 there were two attempted attacks at its Barberton Mines Consort operations smelter.
“In November 2020 there was an unsuccessful attack at our Evander Mines operations Elikhulu smelter, where robbers tried to steal processed gold.”
She said in that attack 15 robbers took hostages and caused extensive damage with explosives.
“They used machinery, including grinders, to try to open the armoured facilities.”
Hira said while no-one was arrested for the Consort attack, seven were arrested for the Elikhulu attack.
“One of the arrested suspects was out on bail for a robbery at a Harmony Gold mine, which took place a few weeks earlier.”
Gold Fields spokesperson Sven Lunsche said on December 20 2019 15 gunmen stole R7m worth of gold-bearing material from its South Deep smelting plant. “There were no arrests.”
He said the company was spending R35m to enclose the mine with a perimeter wall and upgrade surveillance, detection equipment and access controls.
Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said the unit was aware of one attack in 2018, three in 2019 and two in 2020.
There was no proof yet that CIT robbers were diverting to attacking mines, she said.
“Some arrested suspects were previously arrested for aggravated robberies, but not CIT robberies.”
Mogale said between 2018 and 2020 nine suspects were arrested, with one killed.
She said a suspect who received stolen gold was convicted and sentenced to a R700,000 fine or 15 years’ imprisonment.
“The remaining cases are before court.”
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