Defence expert calls for special units to tackle zama zamas

After watching a video of zama zamas fighting on a mound at a landfill site in Primrose Hill, defence expert Helmoed-Römer Heitman is convinced the situation requires a response beyond normal policing.

“In the first instance, I would say the police’s Special Task Force, with either an air wing helicopter as spotter, or drones. Perhaps reinforced with people from the intervention unit.

Zama zama crisis needs Special Task Force and army

“But I do not know how many people are involved. If it’s more than a couple of dozen, I would be tempted to ask the army’s Light Brigade for infantry support.”

Willem Els, an expert from the Security Initiative for Africa, said illegal miners operated in both active and abandoned mines.

In some cases, they allegedly struck deals with mine employees, who allowed them to enter operational shafts illegally.

“The challenge is that there is insufficient legislation to counter illegal mining.

“I know the government is working on draft legislation, but it has not yet been promulgated to address these challenges,” Els said.

Mines are private property

He said mines were private property, meaning police could not simply enter and conduct operations without involving the mine owners or management.

“The police need to be contacted by the mine and operations are then conducted jointly with mine security.

“If someone is arrested underground without explosives, a firearm or gold-bearing material, they may be fined for trespassing and released the following day.

“Our legislation does not adequately address the challenges we are facing.”

Els said South Africans were also involved in illegal mining, although he identified Mozambican and Lesotho nationals as the main groups operating the illegal mining networks.

Most illegal miners have a military background

He said the police could not tackle the problem alone, adding that effective intervention required adequate resources and political will. He said most of the zama zamas had a military background.

A group of Wedela zama zamas who were interviewed by *The Citizen *recently said their opponents was being led by a former Lesotho National Defence Force officer.

The zama zamas said they suspected that most of the illegal miners in this group were former soldiers.