Illegal mining believed to cost SA R60 billion last year
Pan African Resources expressed concern about the increase in illegal mining in South Africa.
This after close to 1000 illegal miners were retrieved from the Sheba mineshaft in Barbeton, Mpumalanga last month. Pan African operates three mines in the Barbeton area, one of which is the Sheba mine.
“Many thousands of people are currently estimated to be involved in illegal mining. They typically enter abandoned shafts illegally, travelling many kilometres underground, where they may live for extended periods at a time, risking their lives and posing serious state, community, environmental and industrial security threats,” the group stated.
It further quotes the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) that estimates that illegal mining costs the South African economy about R60 billion last year.
“We believe a concerted effort (is) needed to contain this situation. We further advocate for harsher sentences to be passed to perpetrators.
“The deterioration of local government has led to a scenario where the company now sustains (in certain respects) the areas around its mines. Pan African has an excellent security team and I would like to specifically commend them for their continued efforts in safeguarding our people and assets,” it concluded.
Meanwhile the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) criticised the mass arrest of illegal miners in Barbeton as “performative justice”.
It claims the arrests were a smokescreen to create an illusion of law enforcement while presenting no substantial solution to the problem. Illegal mining syndicate used the poor to facilitate it, and the rich financed it under protection by the powerful.
“But let us be clear: after nearly three years of (law enforcement’s) Operation Vala Umgodi, launched in December 2022, no high-level syndicate bosses have been arrested, no corporate directors have been charged, and no elite political or financial figures have been held accountable,” Macua said in a statement.
