An estimated 4,000 so-called “zama zama” or “take a chance” illegal gold miners-cum-workers have been using a mine shaft in Stilfontein, North West province, South Africa, for shelter. They had been underground for nearly a month, refusing to cooperate with the authorities, fearing they were undocumented migrants from Lesotho and Mozambique.
The South African government is stepping up efforts to crack down on illegal mining, which costs the economy hundreds of millions of dollars every year. In fact, these miners mostly work in abandoned mines, which help them try to escape from what they perceive as life beneath poverty by pulling out gold for sale on the black market.
Some spend months underground, creating a tiny underground economy where food, cigarettes, and cooked meals are sold to those involved in illegal mining.
The government responded with the “Close the Hole” operation, codenamed Vala Umgodi, an operation to dissuade the practice- it cut off food and water to the miners, hoping to smoke them out and pull them up to the top.
The local people attempted to make a plea to the authorities to offer some sort of access, but the government refused the request, arguing that criminals should be persecuted, not helped. Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, declared, “We are not sending help to criminals.”
Conditions underground are reported to be dire. Some miners are said to have links with criminal syndicates or even get recruited into them. Police are not keen on going inside the mines in case they face an armed confrontation.
According to Busi Thabane of Benchmarks Foundation, a charity that monitors corporate practices in South Africa, it was a “humanitarian crisis,” describing extreme conditions for the miners. A body was recently extracted from the mine, with volunteers in the extraction process left traumatized by their senses from the odor caused by decomposing remains.
Local people have been temporarily permitted by authorities to send groceries by rope, but all entry and exit points have been sealed in a bid to force the miners to surface. Last Wednesday five thin miners came out and were taken away by the police after receiving medical attention. 1,000 miners have emerged and been taken into custody since the blockade last week.
The local people are seeing mixed hues. Some of the citizens have appealed for them to retreat asking through a family perspective, especially because most of them are fathers or brothers. Others actually support the stance by the government on the illegal mining; that might feel it is a necessity in saving the country from such activities.
However, there have been criticisms towards the whole incidence as being inhuman; some point that the government has violated some human rights. The South African Human Rights Commission has stated that it would investigate the actions of the authorities in general, and withholding of food and water in particular, which may amount to violations of the right to life.
This operation of ridding the country of illegal mining encompasses a larger initiative that includes confiscations of firearms, diamonds, and money from illegal miners, in addition to a heavy police and military presence in afflicted mining towns. The operation also targets the drastic environmental devastation caused by unregulated mining activities.
