WATCH: Police accused of working with illegal miners

Families of the people who died in the Boksburg gas leak tragedy said they have no hope of getting justice and they have accused police in the area of working with the Angelo informal settlement Zama Zamas.

On July 5, at least seven people died and more were hospitalised when a gas cylinder, believed to be used by illegal miners for refining gold, released toxic gas into the atmosphere.
No one has been held responsible for the incident so far.

It’s believed that some of the people who died in the disaster were the illegal miners who owned the leaking gas cylinders.
Both the provincial and local governments have promised to tackle illegal mining in the area following the deadly gas leak, but, according to concerned residents, that only lasted for a day.

In a statement last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for an investigation to get to the bottom of what might have led to the tragic loss of innocent lives.

Police said they have opened an inquest docket and a team of detectives is on the ground investigating to determine how the cylinder with the toxic gas ended up in the community.
However, residents said they are again living in fear as, barely a week after the latest Boksburg gas leak tragedy, illegal miners resumed their operations in the community.

Police and gangs collusion
Judith Manyisi, who lost six family members in the tragedy, said she and her family would like to see those responsible held accountable for the disaster, but due to alleged deep-rooted collusion and corruption between police and the Zama Zamas, she is not confident of ever getting justice.

“It’s all the same. Even if they are arrested, the police will let them off – because they are eating together (financially benefitting from the illegal activities). They will take them today and the following day or two weeks later they will all be back here at Angelo,” said Manyisi.
“If found, they must be arrested and dealt with accordingly. It’s all the same. We are all going to die one day. My child is dead so it’s all the same.

“Two days after what happened, the Zama Zamas came here to take their belongings, which were not confiscated by the police. When I saw them I could not hold my tears back and I cried hysterically. I even shouted at them asking: what do you want here? I reminded them that our family members were killed and they are still coming back. They said nothing and just left.
“The owner of the plant doesn’t stay here. He just sent out his people to work here.”

Locals who sprang into action to assist the victims before officials arrived said they are still in a state of shock after witnessing people coughing, choking and collapsing from inhaling the toxic gas.

Police found wanting: ACDP
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) national spokesperson Tlaeli echoed the residents’ sentiments about the possible collusion and corruption between police and the Zama Zamas.

The ACDP highlighted the system’s ‘failure’ to tackle illegal mining and illegal immigration.
“This area is full of crime and unfortunately the police themselves are found wanting. It’s been mentioned that some of them are found to be part of these illegal activities,” said Tlaeli.

“Illegal mining equipment, including the gas bottles, were recovered and confiscated but the community told us that those things will be at the processing plants tomorrow. How do they know? It’s because it has happened before.

“Police management must answer the question: how does this equipment get back here after they have been taken away by the police?
“Those police who are corrupt must be gotten rid of. Until we see officers being arrested, convicted, sentenced and sent to jail, communities are not going to be convinced that they can work with police, let alone trust them.”

The ACDP said that to effectively address the problem of illegal mining, the government needs to come up with new strategies, establish an adequately-resourced intelligence team and a specialised well-resourced police task force that will focus on mining-related crimes, also ensure that communities are empowered and feel protected enough to get involve and support the police, and fix the porous borders.

“Community involvement is key because these people live and operate within the communities. However, communities need to be assisted to be able to work with the government to deal with this situation.
“We understand that the issue of policing is not only for the police, but you cannot entrust people with only asking them to report these things.
“We all know that in this country whistleblowers have been killed. The reluctance to get involved highlights the need to improve our witness protection system. You need to make them feel that they have a strong reliable backup behind them.
“That’s why we have these people operating so freely because they know that communities are scared and lack the necessary support from our law enforcement agencies.”

Tlaeli said they spoke to some residents who pointed out that the mining equipment recovered after the tragedy is next to nothing compared to the quantity of equipment, including gas cylinders, that are hidden in the shacks.
“Nobody can even point towards where such equipment is hidden because people are afraid. As soon as they say something, their lives are also in danger.
“In a nutshell, assist the communities to organise themselves and be extra vigilant to be able to assist you, empower them by providing the resources and assure them that whatever they do here they are protected by the police. That will encourage and make communities bold enough to assist.
“Otherwise, we are merely dealing with the after-effects and it’s not helpful. If there is no solution, it means we are mostly likely going to have this problem continue where innocent people who are not even involved will be dying like this.”

Out of control
Both the DA and ACDP believe that the issue has even gone beyond the police power now.
“We heard the premier when he alluded to the fact that the situation of the Zama Zamas in this area has gone beyond the government’s control.

“We agree with him, because really if the minister of police had a working strategy to deal with this matter, I think by now we could be talking about several people that have been arrested in connection with this disaster. But nothing has happened,” said Tlaeli.

“The premier is correct that the minister of police must come up with a better strategy so that we can prevent disasters like these.
“People have been calling on the government to bring in the soldiers. Why are the ministers not doing that when the situation calls for that?
“We are told that most of the people operating here are coming from other countries, and they don’t even have any form of documentation. We have a serious problem with illegal immigrants because our borders are very porous, allowing anyone and anything to pass through.
“We are also calling on the minister of home affairs to come up with a better strategy to deal with the issue of illegal immigration once and for all.”

Rotten police officials
Speaking to this publication at the scene, Gauteng SAPS Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said they are not disputing the reports that there might be police corruption involved.

“We are aware that there might be some rotten police officials who are colluding with criminals. We appeal to the community to help us deal with those too.”
She said the community of Angelo must come forward and name and shame those people.
“They can call 08600 1011 or use the MySAPS App. If your report is not actioned, you can call the standby duty number for police complaints at the provincial office on 082 444 2000.”

Holistic approach
Nevhuhulwi said it’s not fair for the community to say the police are not doing anything about the crime situation in the area because police are regularly conducting operations targeting illegal mining in Angelo.

“We were previously here with the provincial commissioner and raided illegal mining sites with the resources at our disposal. I would also like to point out that illegal mining cannot be the police’s problem alone. It needs a holistic approach involving other government sectors to work together, and we need the very same communities to share information with us.”

When the premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, revisited the scene on June 6, he reiterated his call for a well-resourced special crime unit to respond to illegal mining gangs’ firepower as if they are in a ‘warzone’.

Poverty, and unemployment partly to blame
While many residents are concerned about the dangers posed by illegal mining activities, others said the gold processing plants create work opportunities for some desperate residents, who believe that their needs outweigh the associated risks.

Responding to questions about the risks of having the gold processing plants within the community, one of the community leaders Samuel Malaza said instead of just treating the symptoms, authorities need to deal with the root causes of the problem, which he said is unemployment and poverty.

According to Malaza, the illegal mining operation has become the bread and butter for many residents.

“After what happened, it’s understandable that many people are worried about the dangers posed to the neighbourhood, however, we can not ignore the root causes.
“We are appealing to the government to assist with creating work opportunities for the people in our community because it’s not only foreigners who are involved in illegal mining. Locals and foreigners work side by side at the plants to extract gold from the soil to earn a living.

“Not that I’m trying to promote the Zama Zamas, but I’m appealing to our government to provide our people with alternative ways to make a living. Even the shops and people selling food will tell you that their businesses are thriving because of the income people get from these activities.”
Malaza said he was told that some of the owners of the cylinders also died in the tragedy, but the owner of the place is nowhere to be found.
During its recent visit to the area, The DA also echoed the call for the formalisation of illegal mining, saying it will help the economy, create job opportunities and combat illegal activities.

Formalise and regulate it
DA provincial leader MPL Solly Msimanga said that in 2017 Michele Clarkes, who was then the DA political head for the Germiston constituency and was still a member of the legislature, wrote to the minister asking for a discussion about how the sector could be formalised and regulated.

“We need to fast-track the urgent issue of how we formalise it because people are not just going to go away,” said Msimanga.
Msimanga pointed out that the SAPS is not fully equipped to deal with mining activities.
“The only way the government can control artisanal and small-scale mining sector is through formalisation and regulation. Tanzania does it and does it successfully.

“We are sitting here with an unfortunate situation in an informal settlement where about 70% of the people are not South Africans. Now that’s another issue that we need to be talking about. We need to talk about what we do to ensure that going forward the issues of border control is something that gets to be dealt with.

“It’s a fact that South Africa cannot grow on its own without involving skills that are coming from other countries, but at the same time you need to talk about how we avoid illegal migration, instead of only reacting when there are issues like this inside the country.”

The ACDP also blamed the crime situation in the area on poverty.
“This community is living in dire strains, and some of the causes of the crime situation are poverty, unemployment, and also illegal immigration.
“We know people come to South Africa because they want to make a living, but how they come to the country is another problem, and there is no mechanism used to deal with this issue too.”

Reports of turf wars between rival gangs and shootouts between illegal miners and law enforcement agencies are commonplace in Boksburg’s old mining sites, particularly along Main Reef Road.

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