The war against illegal mining has been lost when communities are now battlegrounds that could give in at any time.
Three years ago this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation his government had declared war on illegal mining – but we are still just minutes from disaster.
Illegal mining had been an issue for decades prior to his promise of a new special task team to fight zama zamas, but was forced by the gang rape of eight women near a mine dump in Krugersdorp that had stoked international outrage and protest.
Women, who will this weekend honour the heroes of 1956 who fought for equality and liberation, took to the streets to plead for protection from illegal miners who target them. A call that largely fell on deaf ears.
There has been action by the government, like Ramaphosa deploying the military in 2023 and the police’s harsher hand with miners in Stilfontein last year.
However, the problem persists with reports this week that more than 1 000 miners have been arrested in Mpumalanga so far, with the police in another tense stand-off that will no doubt have human rights bodies rushing to court.
Children and women at risk
Many of those underground were reportedly underage, which shows the scope of the problem, especially when their activities affect those the same age as them.
According to the Gauteng education department, 13 schools in the province have been placed on rehabilitation programmes in fear of their collapse. So, as a solution, children are taught environmental education and first aid to detect and then respond to a possible disaster, like the ground falling out from under them.
Where math, science, and language learning should be the priority, lessons on basic survival now dominate.
And the dangers go beyond the classroom, with children and women at risk of being shot at any time by warring factions of zama zamas.
While formalising and regulating the practice may slow down the infection, turf wars and mass arrests show the cancer of illegal mining has already spread too far.
The war against illegal mining has gone beyond political speech, army deployment, police resistance, and economic misdirection, when communities are battlegrounds that could give in at any time.
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Unity needed but not found
It will only take a complete and unified effort between all South Africans, the state, and our neighbouring countries to try to eradicate it.
No looking the other way when your neighbour is involved, no glamorising the “jobs” they create, no putting the lives of illegal miners over law-abiding citizens, no more red tape that prevents arrests and prosecutions when a miner crosses the border.
No more shielding high-profile individuals whose fingerprints are all over the illegal mining practice, and no more excuses.
Central to this is political will, accountability, and a clear mutual plan across the region. A unity that is seldom, if ever, seen.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for this from those who are out for their own interests, but maybe do plug your nose for the impending plunge below.
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