There were 460 convictions in cases involving illegal mining in the past year.
This is according to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) annual report for April 2022 to March 2023, with the highest number of convictions — 60 — obtained in February this year.
This is a reflection of the scale of illegal mining in the country, which has again come under the spotlight after the deaths of 17 people at Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg on the East Rand following a gas leak.
Gauteng police said the leak this week was linked to illegal mining in the settlement.
Such activities have also been associated with rampant crime, with rapes, robberies, hijackings of buildings and mass murders reported.
Some high-profile cases linked to illegal mining include:
- The Mdlalose mass shooting in which 16 people were killed in a tavern in Soweto in what was believed to be a zama-zama turf war;
- The Krugersdorp gang rapes in which members of a film crew were attacked, robbed and raped, allegedly by illegal miners; and
- A balaclava-clad gang known as Marashea, made up of people from Lesotho, terrorising West Rand residents in Mohlakeng, Purification farm and Randfontein, demanding electronic gadgets and cash.
In areas such as Roodepoort, residents live in fear of zama-zamas, even arming themselves.
Crime linked to illegal mining has been classified as economic sabotage by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
There have been calls from communities affected by related crime for the army to be deployed.
In an interview with 702 on Thursday morning, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said deploying the army will be difficult. “I am not trying to undermine the army, but the truth is, legislatively [it is] hamstrung,” he said.
Lesufi said to deploy the SANDF, Ramaphosa first has to write to parliament, protocols have to be followed and only then would soldiers be deployed to back up police. This means the army is unable to respond fast enough.
He acknowledged government strategies to fight illegal mining are not working.
“We believe we need a huge overhaul. I don’t think the strategies we have as government are assisting us and we have made that quite clear to those dealing with law-enforcement in our country.
“We are under siege and I don’t think we’ve got a plan to reverse, confront or deal with it. If we are trying, as a province, to really fight crime, fight lawlessness and anarchy, we need resources [from] local or provincial government.”
In 2022 Ramaphosa said the National Security Council had agreed on further action to tackle illegal mining and that the SANDF could be called in to support the SAPS if required.
According to the SAPS' annual performance plan 2022/23, specialised interventions capability to combat illegal mining will be measured in terms of its response to identified operations which threaten the economy and undermine the authority of the state.
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