Since early November, the South African police have been guarding an abandoned gold mine in the northern town of Stilfontein trapping hundreds and thousands of miners within with many being scared of leaving the mine for fear of being arrested by security officials in an intense standoff that has lasted for weeks.
Officials have also cut off food and water supplies to force the miners to leave, vowing not to help with rescue efforts as they believe some miners may be armed and pose a risk to rescuers. As of 24th November, 14 miners had surfaced and were immediately arrested, including a teenage boy.
Although the situation demands urgent intervention, the proposed solutions remain controversial, often treading a fine line between justice and the violation of human rights.
Number of illegal mining cases double
Illegal mining, firmly embedded in South Africa’s socioeconomic environment, is a growing concern with far-reaching effects. Known as ‘zama zamas’, these illicit miners work in abandoned or uncontrolled mines, motivated by unemployment, poverty, and a lack of prospects.
Although the exact number of illegal miners is unknown, some estimates do exist with the South African Institute of International Affairs believing that around 14,000 people are engaged in illicit mining although the most recent figure indicated there are about 30,000 illegal miners. Another estimate from 2023 indicates that 7,000 people involved in illicit mining were apprehended,
In the first quarter of 2024 alone a total of 581 new cases of unlawful mining were reported, up by more than 241% against the same period of 2023.
This increase prompted the ‘Vala Umgodi’ program, which translates to ‘close the hole’ in Zulu, a South African government operation that was initiated in December 2023 to combat illicit mining. However, since the beginning of November 2024, this has resulted in a stalemate between police officers and the miners who refuse to leave the mines.
Legal gaps
The operation has provoked diverse responses, with officials viewing it as a security precaution while human rights organizations believe that it unfairly criminalizes vulnerable people who engage in illicit mining to avoid poverty and unemployment.
The lack of a precise definition of illicit mining within South African legislation has further fueled the increase. Mining, an important business in the country’s economy, is not officially prohibited by law; nonetheless, mining operations are closely regulated by a number of laws and acts to guarantee responsible and sustainable practices.
The legislation transfers South Africa’s mineral resources to the country and requires mining permits from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. Mining activities are unlawful and a felony unless these permissions and permits are obtained so therefore criminalizes the activities of the zama-zamas who mine illegally.
Criminal cycle
Unlicensed mining thrives on economic disparities. With South Africa’s unemployment rate exceeding 32.9% (as of Q3 2024), many people seek alternative livelihoods, including migrants who risk their lives mining in abandoned mines to make a living. This activity pays significantly more than regular employment. According to the BBC, zama zamas make US$15,000–$22,000 per year compared to the typical income of legal miners of US$2,700.
With almost 6,000 abandoned mines in South Africa, these locations have become exploitation hotspots. Syndicates are believed to serve as intermediaries, purchasing mined minerals from miners at cheap rates and then selling these on the illicit market for much higher profits, using force, intimidation, and violence to carry out these activities. However, because many miners are desperate for work and have few legal choices, they allow themselves to be exposed to this type of abuse.
For example, John, one of the many thousands of illegal miners who originally came from Lesotho but moved to South Africa in search of work, explained that his unsuccessful search for employment led him to illegal mining but this is not easy because syndicates dominate the trade, controlling access to abandoned mine shafts and demanding a share of his and other miners’ meagre earnings.
Illegal mining effects
Estimates suggest that illegal mining costs the country R14 billion (about US$1 billion) annually in lost revenue from gold alone. The activities have been observed to extend beyond mining to include violence, trafficking, and environmental destruction.
In 2023, four individuals were killed at the Transvaal Gold Mining Estate in Mpumalanga during a clash between illegal miners and syndicates. Another incident in 2023 was the underground fire in Orkney which killed 20 people and was said to have been deliberately started by opposing parties involved in illicit mining syndicates, underscoring the human cost of the sector.
Beyond the immediate hazards to workers, the local populations surrounding unlawful mining operations face environmental degradation when environmental rules are ignored. Coal dust and other particulates pollute the air of Ermelo, a town in Mpumalanga province in eastern South Africa, causing respiratory ailments such as asthma.
Toxic runoff from unlawful mining activities in places such as Gauteng has poisoned water bodies, leaving them unsafe for drinking or irrigation purposes. Research has found that mercury levels in the rivers near mining sites surpass the safe limits by hundreds of times, resulting in long-term damage to aquatic life and humans who rely on these waters.
Residents have reported that rainwater collected for drinking was contaminated with coal dust, endangering the health of their children and the elderly, as toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide contaminated the water sources, and acid mine drainage affected 20% of the nation’s river systems, exacerbating their problems.
Controversial solution
While illegal miners are sometimes regarded as criminals, many are the victims of structural failures such as excessive unemployment, a scarcity of economic prospects, and the legacy of apartheid-era inequality.
As a result, one of the proposed solutions has ignited heated debate: formalizing illicit mining by incorporating zama zamas into the legal economy. Advocates claim that legitimizing their operations would result in much-needed regulation, and higher safety standards and income. However, some argue that this method risks legitimizing criminality.
Despite slow progress, the government is implementing strategies to achieve long-term sustainability and reduce socioeconomic and environmental impacts. These include closing abandoned mines, enacting legislative revisions to align mining laws, and sending over 3,000 National Defence Force soldiers to assist law enforcement. These operations have resulted in the arrest of over 13,000 people and the recovery of millions of rands’ worth of illegal gold and diamonds.
