‘Our houses are shaking’: zama zamas blast explosives underneath residential homes in Primrose

Houses are shaking and cracking, and windows are rattling as residents of Primrose in Germistonlive in constant fear. 

For the past three weeks, illegal miners who are allegedly operating in several shafts around the Simmer and Jack dump site, have been blasting underground. 

“It's at the stage now where, for the last week, we are experiencing huge explosions every night, causing terrible tremors,” said Tracey Enslin from the Primrose Community Policing Forum. 

She said the explosions terrified residents as they felt like they were occurring under their homes. 

“At times, our windows are rattling as they [the blasts] are so strong and close. Houses are cracking, and residents are scared. It's about seven to 10 explosions a night, sometimes more.

“This goes on until the early hours of the morning. We need help here, please. Houses, roads and other infrastructure are going to get seriously damaged if not sink into the ground,” she said. 

Resident Janet Gerretsen said they had been living with the zama-zamas for the past five years.

She said the problem was worse near the Jack and Simmer dumping site. She said from 6pm until 5am, illegal miners were blasting with explosives. 

She added that residents hardly slept, fearing for their lives. “They [illegal miners] have dug holes everywhere across the road. 

“Last year, we had a turf war with the zama zamas; they were fighting each other with guns. The poor children at Primrose High School had to hide under the desks because the bullets were flying all over the place,” she said. 

She pleaded with government to do something, as the private security companies were overwhelmed. Previously, the army was deployed in the area, and the situation was calm, but the moment the soldiers left, it was back to chaos.

“Now it is even worse, every night the blasting is going on. I can hear it, though I am far from the dumping site. It feels like they are moving in underneath the area,” she said. 

Some residents rely on a security company to escort them to and from their homes.

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“We still have bullets that come through our windows, our roofs — we find bullets in our yards. We often have zama zamas that are dumped on the side of the road, they are wrapped up, and it’s gunshot wounds to the head and things like that,” she said. 

“The blasting has been going on for about three and a half weeks now. It is huge explosions underground. It's probably got worse over the last four to five days,” she said.

Some residents said they heard and felt about 11 blasts that woke them up.

One resident said it felt like a mini earthquake, but the noise from blasting was quite bad, with the entire house shaking and windows rattling.

Enslin said the shooting, which used to occur every night, had recently stopped, but residents live in fear all the time.

“Houses are being sold, residents just want to get out of the area. It is terrifying, it is affecting residents' health. You can’t imagine living with extreme anxiety from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep,” she added.

Police from the local station were under-resourced and their local security company escorted many residents into their homes, especially the ones who lived opposite the Simmer and Jack dump site, she said.

“It is just general fear, the police are not helping us with this, they cannot help with this. You know, when all this starts happening, it's normally late at night. It is dark already, it is happening in areas where there is absolutely no light,” she said. 

She said to resolve this situation, the department of mineral resources & energy should conduct an operation similar to the one in Stilfontein in North West.