Mining Affected Community (MACCUA) is concerned about the poverty and unemployment rates in Stilfontein, near Klerksdorp in the North West, where actions against illegal mining activities are ongoing. The organisation claims that since the government’s Operation Vala Umgodi halted illegal mining activities at the Margarett Shaft and other locations in the area late last year, individuals have lost their source of income, making it impossible to meet basic needs. In an attempt to force the miners to come to the surface, police and military blocked down access points used for underground food delivery. Former mineworkers and other illegal immigrants have put their lives at risk by using ropes and pulley systems to retrieve leftover mineral reserves from dangerous holes.
MACCUA’s National Coordinator, Meshack Mbengula, told Newsnote that most individuals in Stilfontein ran businesses around the shafts, which have now been stopped owing to ongoing works.
“Some of them were selling food, while others were making money by helping to lift and lower individuals who needed to enter the shafts. They were relying on it because there is no other work, and Stilfontein is a ghost town. People are facing severe hunger, which is why they have gone underground to put food on the table,” Mbengula remarked in an interview with Newsnote.
The government estimates that illegal mining costs over R70 billion annually lost in revenue, taxes, and royalties.
Mbengula added it has become clear that more than just regulatory action is required to safeguard the mining sector and protect the country’s economy.
“We have been engaging with the government to say let’s transform this sector and formalise them to have people working there formally so that they can contribute to the economy,” He said.
More than 1,500 zama zamas have resurfaced from the shafts since the operation began last year, but many are believed to have remained underground, and a few bodies have been retrieved. This week, MACCUA approached the Constitutional Court to compel the government to expedite operations to bring the miners believed to be trapped underground to the surface. The organisation is also pleading for immediate humanitarian aid to be provided.
“In the case of Stilfontein shaft 11, it is quite troubling since the mechanism we were utilising to convey food below and aid the zama zamas to the surface has been demolished by the mine’s owner. Based on that, we are straining to surface individuals and send food; the last time we did so was last Thursday,” Mbengula added.
However, the government claims that many miners who have freely escaped from disused mine shafts demonstrate that they are not stuck and can depart the subterranean passage on their own.