There are thought to be at least 50 000 informal miners working underground in South Africa. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
While 9 000 delegates from across Africa were gathering in Cape Town to talk about investment opportunities at the annual Mining Indaba, another, less buttoned-up event in the city was discussing what to do about the crisis posed by artisanal and small-scale mining.
Environmental damage and poor worker health and safety in the sector have become a particularly urgent concern following the death of more than 100 informal miners in the tunnels of the abandoned Stilfontein mine in North West province.
In November last year, authorities launched a court-ordered operation to clamp down on illegal mining at a mine in Stilfontein by cutting off food supplies sent down by other members of the mining groups on the ground to those working in the mine’s tunnels.
This was an attempt by the police to force the miners out on their own and be arrested, but instead, it caused dozens to die of starvation or dehydration, according to groups representing the miners.
Since the operation began, more than 300 miners have been rescued. The exact number of people that remain underground and unable to resurface is unclear.
There are thought to be at least 50 000 informal miners working underground in South Africa. According to the auditor general’s 2021-22 report, the mineral resources and energy department manages 6 100 derelict and ownerless mines, including 261 asbestos operations and 2 322 other high-risk commodity mines such as gold, coal and copper mines.
In contrast with the mining investment conference, staged at the International Convention Centre, delegates from the Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI) gathered at Cape Town’s Methodist Central Church.
The AMI is primarily concerned with providing a platform for communities negatively affected by mining – for instance water contamination — to voice concerns and advocate for better practices in the sector.
One of its central concerns was government standards for South African mining, which were published by the chief inspector of mines David Msiza last August and took effect in November. The standards, concerning issues such as blasting, worker safety and the environment, came under heavy fire at the AMI amid calls for a new approach that would involve host communities in promoting artisanal and small-scale mining.
“The new regulations don’t really centre and prioritise the needs of communities,” complained Oxfam’s programme director, Nkateko Chauke, speaking from the sidelines of the meeting. “They don’t talk about how communities can benefit from extraction, or outline how communities can meaningfully engage when social and labour plans are developed.”
Oxfam is a global organisation that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice.
A panellist at the nearby mining indaba, Faded Black Innovation chief executive Sonwabo Modimoeng, echoed Chauke’s complaint.
“The government should help us discuss proper measures to tackle artisanal and small-scale miners because we, the community, will work with you and protect those mines for you,” Modimoeng told the Mail & Guardian.
The lack of community involvement and oversight was one of the causes of the zama zama (illegal miners) phenomenon in South Africa, he said.
“When mines close, the company does not consult affected residents. So the infrastructure is left unattended and that becomes the building point of criminality,” Modimoeng said.
According to a 2019 report funded by the European Union, illegal artisanal mining in South Africa is among the most lucrative and violent in Africa. The report found that lost production linked to the activity exceeds R14 billion a year.
The report adds that miners operate in ownerless and disused mines, which are “among the most exploitative and dangerous”.
Kgothatso Nhlengetwa, an artisanal and small-scale mining expert who attended the mining indaba, said illegal mining activity in South Africa is particularly prevalent in abandoned and disused goldfields.
In many mining towns where large mining companies have moved on, informal settlements have sprung up as a “direct result of zama zama mining”.
Nhlengetwa said according to her research, there are six downstream jobs for every informal miner. These include suppliers of goods such as food consumed underground and mercury used in processing, as well as informal traders who purchase and distribute the finished product.
In an attempt to regulate mining operations, the department of mineral and petroleum resources said it is revising the R1147 regulations that will include new financial provisioning requirements. The provision must guarantee the availability of sufficient funds for an environmental risk assessment; the rehabilitation of mining or production activities; the decommissioning and closure of the operation and the removal of building structures.
“The regulations will only work if there is accountability by the government,” Oxfam’s Chauke said.
Since August last year, the authorities have confiscated more than 640kg of gold-bearing material, 6.2kg of refined gold, explosives, firearms, and R52.49 million in cash from the informally worked mine in Stilfontein.