Illegal gold miners speak up

Despite numerous investigations and law enforcement officials vowing to put an end to illegal mining, it does not appear as though the problem will be rectified anytime soon.

The EXPRESS recently visited the Cleveland area, where illegal mining takes place in broad daylight.

On visiting the area, six men could be seen going about their business, and there were sacks all over, full of the soil the miners had dug up.

According to the miners, they dig up the soil, then they have to sift it so that they can remove the soil to get to the gold.

One of the miners, Mr Ricardo Puk, said the reason he ended up doing illegal mining was because of poverty.

“I came to South Africa from Mozambique, looking for a better life, but it was not going to be that easy,” he said.

He started mining a few months ago after losing his job when the company closed down.

He said he makes between R100 a day to R3 000 per month, depending on the gold price at that time.

“We have places where we sell the gold and they are the ones who determine the prices. We just take what is given to us because we cannot sell to the big companies,” he said.

He is unsure if he would leave illegal mining for another job, as he has no one to answer to.

Another miner, Mr Amedeo Ngala, said he came to South Africa seven years ago and opened a hair salon in Durban.

The business didn’t do well so he had to close the shop and move to Johannesburg, where he moved in with his brother in the hopes of a better future.

On arriving in Johannesburg, finding employment turned out to be difficult and he was forced to start mining illegally.

“When I arrived here I couldn’t re-open my salon because of finances. That is when I started mining,” he said.

Mr Ngala said he has been mining for seven years.

Given the opportunity, he would restart his business. If he received a job that paid him the money he earns through the mining, he would take it.

“Rocks fall and working underground can be dangerous,” he said.

According to Mr Ngala, finding buyers for the gold is a challenge and sellers sometimes take advantage of them.

One of the many challenges they have is not having the machines to check if the gold is there or not. They work on assumption and sometimes work the whole day without getting anything.

Mr Bonifacio Tamela said he came to South Africa in 1992, also from Mozambique, and worked as a painter and builder for a company which closed down nearly two years ago.

With the money he gets from digging, he supports his wife and three children.

The youngest miner in the group is Petro Elios, who is 17.

He has been in the country since July. He said the working conditions are dangerous and even though they are scared of going too deep underground, it is still not safe to do what he is doing and would stop if he found another job.

The EXPRESS spoke to the communications officer from the Primrose SAPS, Sergeant Styles Maome, who could not comment at the time as he needed to investigate further.

He did say he would follow up when he received more information.