President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced plans for specialised police units to tackle crimes like illegal mining. [Picture: via Mining Review Africa]
As much as officials pay lip service to tackling illegal mining, they never follow through with firm action. So says a community activist and member of the Riverlea Mining Forum based in Johannesburg.
On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the government’s intention to create specialised police units that will deal with “priority crimes”. Amongst those is illegal mining, which has plagued communities like Riverlea.
“We will continue to tackle priority crimes like illegal mining, gang violence, cash-in-transit heists and the construction mafia through specialised police units,” he told members of parliament.
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But in an interview with Salaamedia on Monday, activist Romeo Sibeko was not confident the matter was under control. He expressed fatigue at hearing repeated promises.
“The officials come and visit and make promises, but they do not commit to the promises … When it comes to [the] government, there is no participation that shows to say that they are very interested in the plight that the communities are currently experiencing,” he said.
For people living above and near Johannesburg’s abandoned mines, illegal mining poses a serious threat to their lives. Sibeko spoke of illegal miners often being heard drilling beneath them.
“The safety of our houses is not guaranteed. We could be falling in at any time. We’re not even sure what dynamites or bombs they have that, if they want to react against the community, they could hit us.”
