Northern Cape police this week hailed the success of a three-day crackdown against illegal mining in the historic diamond fields of the Namaqualand.
Police helicopters, coastal aerial patrols, roadblocks, and even a 7.8m rubber duck were deployed in a massive operation that netted 82 illegal miners and a large quantity of diamond-bearing gravel. Digging equipment and other mining implements were seized including generators, jigsaws and power tools.
Police also confirmed the deployment of eight new police constables to Kleinzee, a picturesque former private mining town built by mining giant De Beers Group.
The town, a popular tourist destination, is better-known in recent times for its reprieve from Eskom load-shedding — due to a technical anomaly. But late last year the Homeowners Association raised concerns about incidents of vandalism and lawlessness in the surrounding mining area.
The NamaKhoi Municipality, still negotiating with De Beers to take over Kleinzee’s service delivery, is also in the process of cleaning up the town, evicting illegal occupants of derelict buildings.
However Northern Cape police insist they have the situation under control, with help from private mining security. Provincial SAPS spokesperson Brig Mashay Gamieldien said illegal mining was one of three top crime-fighting priorities identified by newly appointed provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Koliswa Otala who took office in August last year.
“This area has also seen an increase in the influx of undocumented persons who are involved in illegal mining.
— SAPS spokesperson Brig Mashay Gamieldien
“Due to the ongoing illicit mining activities in the Namakwa region, specifically at the mining sites at Nuttabooi, Bontekoei and the Kleinzee area, the police are frequently conducting and executing disruptive actions in conjunction with external departments in an effort to clamp down on the situation,” Gamieldien said in response to queries.
“This area has also seen an increase in the influx of undocumented persons who are involved in illegal mining.”
She said the police reinforcement for Kleinzee would “bolster the SAPS’s efforts to eradicate crime, to serve and protect the inhabitants of our country, and to ensure that everyone in this country feels, and is safe and secure”.
Several residents said the town remained a relative oasis of calm despite the influx of miners. Tourism stakeholders dismissed suggestions the town was under siege, and said a return of regulated mining activity would provoke a boom — similar to the prosperous diamond years under De Beers.
“We’ve been going there for safaris for the last 30 years, bringing customers from all over the world there,” said Johann du Toit from African Expeditions. “The potential there is absolutely great. Mining and tourism should be in harmony — the idea is to work with the mines not against them, to the benefit of the whole area.”
One resident involved with security said Kleinzee was still a peaceful ‘dorp’ despite illegal mining in the area: “We do have an influx of illegal miners in town, but in town they don’t have any influence on crime. We go to shops and walk in streets, and we don’t have burglaries,” he said.
NamaKhoi mayor Gustav Bock this week concurred that the town, situated on the spectacular ‘diamond coast’, had immense potential. “There are great prospects for Kleinzee and it remains a key area of development and interest for the NamaKhoi Municipality.
“Despite the immense work cut out for all stakeholders, I firmly believe that if all things align one can restore and supersede the economic and social trajectory of the area,” Bock said.
De Beers this week denied any rift with the municipality related to the formal handover of services which the company has been managing, despite the town’s formal proclamation a decade ago.
The delay in the handover has prompted criticism from residents who claim the town’s infrastructure is suffering as a result.
De Beers spokesperson Jackie Mapiloko said: “We have a good working relationship with the municipality and we are both committed to resolving the municipal services delivery handover for the benefit of Kleinzee town and its residents.
But Bock said legal proceedings had not yet been terminated. “Though we have reached the point of signing a joint handover/working group agreement with De Beers, both parties have not yet expressed in writing that they will retract legal proceedings, which I believe will go that direction upon the start of engagements this year.”
However the matter is not currently before court.
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