Johannesburg – Illegal mining in the Mankele village near the world-renowned tourist attraction, the Sudwala Caves in Mpumalanga, has prompted community members to take the law into their own hands.
The Zama Zamas took over the Elandshoogte gold mine, which was abandoned in 2012, and are accused of being responsible for a spate of criminal activities in the area, as well as polluting the river when processing raw minerals extracted underground.
“They have been giving us a lot of problems in the area, so we decided to fight them and we currently drove them away but they still sneak into the mine at night. But they no longer operate freely like they used to,” said Freddy Mkhomazi, the chairperson of the Mankele Community Trust.
When asked why they had decided to take the law into their own hands, Mkhomazi said illegal miners were doing “many unacceptable things” in the community and had also used the mine without the permission of the landowners.
He claimed that the mine is situated on land that belongs to the community trust. He said that the community would only allow a legitimate company to conduct mining activities in the area because it would properly control the operations and create jobs.
“I am told that there is a company that applied for the mining rights to revamp this abandoned mine. As the owners of the land, we will support the initiative,” he said.
The illegal mining is happening just five kilometres away from the Sudwala Caves, which allegedly puts tourists’ lives in danger as it is claimed that the illegal miners are armed and dangerous. According to a report published by the Mineral Council South Africa, in most cases illegal miners are armed and pose a serious threat to those found near their operations. The Sudwala Caves are rated as one of the best nature-based tourist attraction sites in the world and attracts about 40 000 international tourists annually. Philip Owen, a member of the family that owns the Sudwala Caves, said he was aware of the illegal mining.
“The mine on the Mankele community property [just west of the Sudwala Caves] is problematic as its dumps are not lined and completely exposed. When it rains, the toxic chemicals penetrate the underground water table and no doubt the pollution plume is spreading under- ground. When the wind blows and it is dry, the fine dust from the tailings dumps infiltrates the area and even the homes of the community members living closest to the mine.
“It is clear that something has to be done about this pollution hazard,” Owen said.
“I would expect the management of the caves to have concerns regarding the structural integrity of the cave and how potential blasting operations could impact tourists visiting the Sudwala Caves.”
Illegal mining also costs the government approximately R6-billion annually. Department of Mineral Resources and Energy spokesperson Thandiwe Maimane said a process had been initiated to ultimately stop all illegal mining activities countrywide.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Dineo Sekgotodi told Sunday World it was in the process of raiding underground mining tunnels. No arrest had been reported at the time of going to print.
Article by: Masoka Dube.
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