GRAPHIC CONTENT: 20 zama zamas shot over illegal mining turf war

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It has come to light that at least 20 zama zamas were wounded and five killed following a gun battle last night in Riverlea, west of Johannesburg.

DA SHADOW MINISTER OF MINERALS RESOURCES DETAILS THE ILLEGAL MINING TRAGEDY

“Residents reported gangs of men armed with automatic weapons moving through suburban areas and heavy gunfire,” DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources James Lorimer MP relayed.

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“They say up to 20 people were shot. One resident says they treated a seriously wounded man and woman on the pavement outside their house while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Other residents say a man was shot and wounded and taken away by police. Videos being circulated show armed men moving through the suburb and to the sound of continuous automatic gunfire. Other local reports say one gang left the area carrying what appeared to be two bodies wrapped in blankets,” Lorimer further relayed.

“Last week a Riverlea resident was killed in crossfire. It is unclear whether it was crossfire between rival mining gangs or whether it involved the police.”

Lorimer

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COMMUNITY LIVING IN FEAR BECAUSE OF ZAMA ZAMAS

Lorimer further said windows are regularly broken and cars damaged by flying bullets as rival gangs attempt to assert control over the Zamamphilo mining settlement, a collection of hundreds of shacks where most of the occupants appear to be foreigners and where the primary activities are illegal mining and illegal gold processing.

“The settlement is a few meters from Main Reef Road and sits between Riverlea and Industria. It lies atop the buried Transnet fuel pipeline and a major high-pressure water main,” he described the turf.

“This is another major source of concern. If illegal mining activities rupture either pipeline, large numbers of people could be killed or injured,” Lorimer warned.

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ANOTHER CALL FOR POLICE ACTION

He added that there have been many gun battles in and around Zamimphilo and Riverlea for months and police are usually absent from these battles.

“Whether they are involved or not, it seems they do not issue public statements about it. The same is true about police actions, if any, against illegal miners countrywide. The failure of the police to inform the public about what is happening and what they are doing about it is unacceptable in a democracy,” Lorimer criticised the police.
He went on to say the DA calls on police to tell the public what they are doing about illegal miners in Riverlea.

“Until they do so, the belief will spread that police are too weak to tackle the gangs or else they are paid off to do nothing proactive about the centre of criminality that is Zamimphilo,” he concluded.

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