Community members in Mohlabaneng village at Atok outside Burgersfort in Limpopo are complaining about illegal miners who are allegedly desecrating graves.
The area has scores of illegal chrome mining. The zama zamas (illegal miners) are now using heavy machinery to mine chrome, this also poses a danger to communities and domestic animals.
Community leader Lepono Thobejane says they are worried that illegal mining activities will prevent them from accessing graves in the area.
Thobejane says, “The way these people are obsessed with money and illegal mining, they will mine over these graves if they are not stopped. They put money first, without respecting this sacred place. What they are doing here is illegal because they didn’t inform us as a traditional council when they came here. They didn’t even produce any legal documents when they came here. I can’t sleep at night because I always have nightmares of my late mother, telling me that we have neglected her.”
Zama Zamas accused of desecrating village graves in Limpopo:
