Johannesburg MMC of Public Safety Mgcini Tshwaku has issued a stern warning to those Zama Zamas who are shooting videos, brandishing high calibre weapons and threatening law enforcement officials that their days are numbered.
One illegal miner has been fatally shot during a shootout with the Joburg Metro Police’s specialised units at a mineshaft in Robertsville West of Johannesburg.
The underground tunnel is believed to be the headquarters of the Zama Zamas.
During the operation, Joburg Metro Police recovered five firearms including a sniper rifle, lots of ammunition, explosives and sacks of gold bearing material,
Lots of Illegal mining equipment of so-called Phendukas were also found inside the tunnel of the abandoned mineshaft.
Tshwaku says more such raids will follow, “We are not scared of you. We are going to get inside these mines here and look for them. They are cowards, their blankets when they saw us, they ran away. But they are able to take videos and say we are not scared. They are very scared. We are going to shoot them. We going to show them who we are. Because you cannot show us guns and say you are not scared of law enforcement. JMPD is going to show you flames.”
