Police promise a clampdown on illegal miners in Riverlea
Captain Mampa said that they would conduct regular operations such as this to stop illegal mining in the area.
Officials from the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and a few members from the Riverlea Mining Forum met on January 22 at the Langlaagte Police Station. According to the deputy chairperson of the mining forum, the plan was to have a walkabout at the heritage site, George Harrison Park and the informal settlement of Zamimpilo to show officials what is happening in the area with illegal miners.
“We had a meeting in December with Central Rand Gold (CRG) who is the company which mined here in the area. They were the last company to mine here and now they want to rehabilitate the area in and near George Harrison Park and in Horseshoe,” said the deputy.
According to the deputy, when the company is granted a mining license, they also get money which is put into a trust fund for rehabilitation. Once the company receives approval from DMR to start with rehabilitation, they will receive that money. The Mining Forum of Riverlea has given DMR certain demands to adhere to before they even get the approval.
“We told them that we want to know who are the people that they going to get to do the rehabilitation, how will it be done, who the engineers are, we don’t just want dirt to be thrown down the holes, we want the rehabilitation to be done correctly and we want people from our community to get involved so that there’s employment in our community,” explained the deputy chairperson.
She added, “The company has not been mining here for a while now and as a result the illegal miners took advantage of that and now, they use the tunnels for their illegal mining of gold. I sent an email to DMR complaining saying that the holes are getting bigger, our lives are in danger because there’s Transnet pipes, Sasol gas pipelines that the illegal miners are working close to, we are very concerned about it. DMR responded to my email to arrange a walkabout.”
The arranged walkabout did not happen because as the forum arranged police escort, the police themselves were getting ready for their ‘Disruptive Operation’ which is their operation to eliminate illegal mining in the area. The forum and the DMR officials along with the police officers, had a short meeting before the police commenced with their operation.
Upon their arrival at George Harrison Park, illegal miners were at the entrances of the tunnel and were searched by officers. Bags that were laying around in the area were also searched and in one of the bags, explosives were found. Captain Mampa arranged for the explosives unit to fetch the explosives. Money in a bottle was also found. No arrests were made as the police officers had no proof of who the explosives belonged to.
In the distance, illegal miners could be observed emerging from a tunnel, waiting for the police officers to leave the area so they could surface. Captain Mampa said that they would conduct regular operations such as this to stop illegal mining in the area.
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