One ‘Zamazama’ dead, 46 arrested in South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin

About 700 tonnes of gold-bearing material valued at about $191,357 (ZAR2.5 million) has been recovered in a multidisciplinary enforcement action on eight premises on Monday in South Africa’s West Rand, part of the historic Witwatersrand Basin.

The South African Police Services’ elite crime-fighting Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation said Monday that one illegal miner, known as a ‘Zamazama’, was fatally shot and 46 accomplices were arrested at five illegal processing plants.

Police also recovered about 20 cell phones for further investigation.

The suspects are expected to appear in court soon to face the charges that include contravention of Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005, Mining Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, theft, Mineral and Petroleum Recourses Development Act 28 of 2002 and possibly Immigrations Act 13 of 2002.

Illegal mining poses a major risk to safe operations, with attacks on employees, security and rival illegal miners. Further, illicit miners damage and steal property, which adds to the country’s general risk profile.

Multinational precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater’s (JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) Protection Services unit are said to have participated in the crackdown. According to the miner’s 2021 Annual Report, it’s critical to understand the occurrence of Zamazamas in the broader South African business context.

The miner’s South African operations account for 81% of total group production and are surrounded by doorstep communities that look to it for limited opportunities.

“It is mostly our gold operations that are affected by illegal mining, although it also occurs at our PGM operations where illegal miners access remote underground concessions to steal copper cable and other items,” states the report.

In 2021 Sibanye recorded 187 incidents of illegal mining and 473 arrests of illegal miners. Since the group was listed in 2013, the cumulative number of arrests totals 4,396 and 1,875 (2021: 239) employees were disciplined for aiding and abetting illegal miners.

Assistance includes feeding and equipping criminal miners. For instance, Sibanye has certain underground food restrictions to ensure employees do not carry extra food underground to sustain criminals.

Sibanye has pointed the finger at shortcomings in delivering essential services and administrative functions at the national, provincial and local government levels, which denote an ongoing drain on the company. “This is compounded by a regulatory environment that is not attractive to investors. All these factors significantly increase the cost of doing business and result in a higher hurdle rate for capital investment,” reads Sibanye’s annual report.

“Anticipating continued weakness in state capacity for delivery of public services, we foresee an increasing need for private sector led initiatives to compensate for these shortcomings to sustain a stable society in our operating areas.”