Residents in Limpopo’s Muyexe village, near Giyani, have expressed concern about the scourge of illegal gold miners in the area. The illegal miners, known colloquially as zama-zamas, have left open trenches in fields.
After the Geo-Science Council announced in September last year that there are gold deposits in the area, illegal gold mining activities in the Giyani area began to increase.
Residents fear for the safety of their children and livestock. Concerned Muyexe residents say a group of foreign nationals that operates at night is behind the activity, with the help of some locals. They worry that the trenches could lead to tragic incidents, as their cattle graze in the area.
Their spokesperson Eddy Hlungwani says the activity is of no economic value to locals and leads to environmental degradation. “They are benefiting themselves alone, not the community. They are not paying the tax, and you know they do not employ the Muyexe community people; so they are destroying this environmental land in our community.”
“They even mine on our ploughing fields,” says another resident Rosina Hlungwani.
The Hawks say there seems to be an illegal mining syndicate with expensive and sophisticated mining equipment operating in various mineral-rich parts of the province.
At Muyexe village outside Giyani, illegal miners have been digging trenches on ploughing and cattle grazing fields in the search of gold.
The local traditional leader Hosi Simon Maluleke says processes are underway for a local businessman to get mining rights but he says attempts to keep the minerals secured until locals can benefit from them have thus far proven futile.
“I have called SAPS, even tried to find the number of the Hawks, some of the Hawks even came here they said in two weeks times we’ll be helping you to remove these people but unfortunately they didn’t come back.”
Hawks Limpopo’s spokesperson Matimba Maluleke says, “In February, we went to that area, we managed to seize types of mining equipment. Unfortunately, no one was arrested and we are busy doing something about illegal mining activities in that area. It’s not in that area alone. You will remember that the scourge of illegal mining in this province is giving us a problem and we are busy conducting operations to make sure that illegal mining activities are not taking place in the province.”
Last week, the Hawks arrested 17 illegal miners at Lulekani Township in Phalaborwa.
