Mining experts are saying it is time for the mining companies and mineral resources ministry to issue a pronouncement on the scourge of illegal mining in South Africa. The illegal miners, or Zama-Zamas, have been operating in disused mines for years, and the government apparently has no way of ending this illicit and dangerous enterprise. In the wake of illegal miners being trapped at an abandoned mine in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg, the Chamber of Mines says illegal mining remains a serious challenge for the industry and South Africa amid rising unemployment and poverty. According to the South African Human Rights Commission there are 8 to 30 thousand illegal miners in South Africa.
To help us discuss this we are now joined on the line by:
• Ross Harvey is a visiting Research Fellow with SAIIA’s Governance of Africa’s Resources Programme in Cape Town.
• Jaco Kok: Environmental Geologist
• Hassan Logart: Bench Marks Foundation
• Thandiwe Matthews, South African Human Rights Commission.
