Following his recent visit to the troubled Pilgrim’s Rest, the MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Jackie Macie, has declared it a war zone.
Macie has, however, made a bold promise that his department would restore peace to this area. He further called for calm and promised the locals that government was going to come to the space.
Macie visited this area on Friday to get first-hand experience of what exactly is occurring there. This after this historic tourism area has been dominating media headlines for all the wrong reasons, after it was reportedly hijacked by a group of foreign nationals who are illegally mining gold here.
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In October 2023, some locals formally lodged complaints and raised their concerns about their safety after several illegal miners had allegedly stormed this town and taken it over.
Following my visit to the area, I can say that, yes, this area has become a war zone. This is, of course, a worrying fact and a security threat.
There were reports of incidents in which these illegal miners, commonly referred to as zama zamas, had clashed with residents and at one point, even threatened to kill them if they dared disrupt their mining operations. To make matters worse, the zama zamas are said to have taken over the residential properties belonging to the provincial government’s Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.
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The community’s attempts to get help from the police proved fruitless, which compelled Macie to visit the town. “Following my visit to the area, I can say that, yes, this area has become a war zone. This is, of course, a worrying fact and a security threat,” he said. “This is a matter that we are going to give the necessary attention to. We are going back to the drawing board and we are going to engage with all the relevant law enforcement structures in the province and nationally. We are going to strategise and come back with full force. We are also going to elevate the matter and put more emphasis on its urgency so that it gets the necessary attention it deserves from national government. You can tell that this is beyond the province now and therefore needs serious intervention from national government.”
His concerns were also fuelled by the recent discovery of a secret military training camp housed on a farm outside White River, where some Libyan nationals had been secretly receiving military training.
Macie voiced his frustration and concern that there seem to be ongoing cases of undocumented foreign nationals who come into the country and this province in particular to conduct illegal operations, which he argued leaves local communities vulnerable. His concerns were also fuelled by the recent discovery of a secret military training camp housed on a farm outside White River, where some Libyan nationals had been secretly receiving military training.
“What we have been able to pick up is the fact that the illegal miners are mainly undocumented foreign nationals and are coming from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and even as far as Malawi. We also learnt that they are heavily armed and ready to fight. They are armed with serious automatic rifles, such as AK-47s, and there are many of them,” said Macie. “We are going to take a strategic approach so that we come back with full force. We will make a formal plea to the national government to assist us.”
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On May 7, the police made some breakthroughs when they arrested two Mozambican nationals for the unlawful possession of explosives, gold-bearing material and mining equipment.
