The situation remains tense in Riverlea south of Johannesburg, with a heavy police presence, following protests by the community sparked by the killing of about five illegal miners at the weekend.
The killing is believed to be related to a turf war between rival zama zamas in the area.
The community has also accused the illegal miners of terrorising the residents and contributing to an increase in crime and lawlessness in the area.
A resident who lives across from the Zamimpilo informal settlement (she asked not to be identified due to fear for her safety), has described a life of terror in the area.
“Your daily life is fear, you stay in your house locked up the whole day, kids get picked up to go to school, they get dropped off- they don’t go out. By 5 o’clock we’re all inside – we don’t go nowhere. That’s how fearful we are.”
“Because I used to work with CPF, we used to patrol the area, and from the 25th of every month, the shooting gets worse. There’s shooting during the month, but coming month end, the shooting gets worse – that is why Saturday night it was like that.”
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