Illegal mining in SA ‘needs hard-handed military intervention’

The deaths of 31 allegedly illegal miners at a mine in Welkom put the spotlight firmly on the need to find the kingpins and control the trade.

The miners, believed to be Basothos, were found dead in a ventilation shaft at Virginia mine in Welkom, Free State. The department of mineral resources and energy said the miners died in a mine ventilation shaft which was last operational in the ’90s.

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The department revealed it received information that other illegal miners had retrieved three of the bodies and brought them to the surface.

“Working in collaboration with the previous owners of the mine, Harmony, the department’s inspectors have determined that methane levels at the mine ventilation shaft 5 are very high,” the department stated.

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“As such, it is currently too risky to dispatch a search team to the shaft. However, we are considering various options to speedily deal with the situation.”

Illegal mining problem

Action Society’s community and safety director Ian Cameron said the illegal mining issue needed military intervention and should be done with stakeholders, such as private security.

“It is a problem that needs very serious and hard-handed military intervention.”

Cameron said the lack of real military intelligence to determine who the kingpins were who benefitted from this played a massive role in how the issue was being managed at the moment.

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“It is a thriving business. There are some shafts where more than 1 000 miners are working on it. So the arrest of 20 or 30 illegal miners means nothing and in terms of organised crime, the way these illegal miners use illegal or illicit firearms is of serious concern.”

In terms of border management, Cameron said a far more heavy-handed approach was needed.