South African Police Investigating Deaths of 21 Suspected Illegal Miners

November 05, 2022 
Linda Givetash

South African police investigate at the scene where more 21 bodies of suspected illegal miners were found near an active mine in Krugersdorp, South Africa, Nov. 3, 2022.

JOHANNESBURG —

South African police say the bodies of at least 21 suspected illegal miners were found outside an active mine this week in the town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. Police said murder is not suspected, but the bodies do appear to have been moved. Security analysts say the deaths are indicative of the prevalence of illicit mining activity in the country.

The discovery of the bodies has shocked the country and it is far from the first such incident.

The town also saw eight women gang-raped at gunpoint in July, and police at the time arrested dozens of illegal miners among the suspects.

“These guys are not random,” said Willem Els,a senior training coordinator with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. They are part of massive well-organized organized crime syndicates that have operating transnational. So, we need the intelligence to guide us in order to develop good strategies. And then we need well-trained police officers that are well equipped in order to challenge this unique challenge that we have in the mining industry."

Els said the country’s intelligence and policing operations are failing and are even infiltrated by organized crime syndicates.

“Law enforcement in South Africa is not what it's supposed to be,” he said.”They're not on the level that they can really prevent this. We also have a challenge with porous borders in the region, where for instance, in countries like Zimbabwe, their deposits of gold are dwindling, the mines are closing, and those people are without work. And then it's a welcome opportunity for them to cross the border into South Africa, most of the time illegally.”

Experts say foreigners aren’t just digging underground but are part of international networks to sell the minerals overseas.

Witness Maluleke, professor of criminology at the University of Limpopo, said the activity wouldn’t be possible without South African involvement.

“The South African youth are part of it. And South African organized criminal networks are part of it, he said. “So, there's not much to say that it is only illegal immigrants that are contributing largely to this crime or this practice. It is misleading.”

Maluleke said tackling illegal mining requires efforts to address other factors that drive people to crime.

“People are not working,” he said. “So, they take these enterprises and opportunity to get money and to commit various crimes that are happening on our mines.”

The illicit activity is costing South Africa and the mining industry millions.

There are more than 6,000 derelict mines in the country, some of which have been abandoned for decades.

Police officials and experts say the mining industry needs to take more responsibility for properly closing old sites.

“Mining houses must take responsibility in policing themselves, in taking ethical and moral accountability, plan more effectively, and so forth,” said Jean Steyn, a criminal justice professor at the University of Zululand. “Mining houses must preventively act towards reducing illegal artisanal mining and use, for example, those that don't have work to rehabilitate the mines.”

The mine shaft near where the bodies were found had been flooded by recent rains, but police say autopsies will be conducted to determine cause of death.

Four Zimbabweans part of 21 illegal miners found dead in SA mine

The African Diaspora Forum (ADF), an umbrella body of migrant communities, has confirmed that four Zimbabweans were among the 21 suspected illegal miners whose bodies were discovered in a mineshaft in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa.

 Pic:New24

According to the ADF, authorities must take precautions to protect underground miners, especially during the rainy season.

Initially, 19 bodies of suspected illegal miners, known in South Africa as ‘zama zama,’ were discovered on Wednesday in Krugersdorp on the West Rand, but two more bodies were discovered on Thursday morning, bringing the total to 21.

Ten more suspected miners are said to be trapped elsewhere in Springs, on Gauteng’s eastern side.

In an interview with CITE, ADF Executive Director Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena, who is also the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Community in South Africa, said steps needed to be taken to protect underground miners, as he confirmed that four of the deceased were Zimbabweans.

“We know that four of those whose bodies were found are Zimbabwean as they were relatives. We are not sure of other deceased though there are rumours they are also migrants and that they might be Zimbabweans, that we can’t confirm. We can only confirm four,” Mabhena said.

“Our main concern is the safety underground, we call on everyone involved in the mining to make sure that before they go underground, there is safety. This is why we call for regulation of this mining so that safety can be put in place so we do not continue losing lives,” he said.

Mabhena stressed the importance of safety, citing other recent deaths of underground miners.

“This is not the first incident. It happened in 2016 we assisted in retrieving bodies of other miners who died underground in Johannesburg. In 2019, we did the same in Benoni. Early this year, some also died underground. We are worried about these deaths,” said the ADF executive director.

“ADF offers its condolences to the families of the 21 miners who died in Krugersdorp. We are told that the mine shaft was flooded because of the rainy season and people lost their lives. Our deepest condolences to the families.”