The surge of informal extraction has resulted in collapsed roads, such as Wemmer Pan Road, alongside resource theft affecting nearby charity operations. Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe reported that the nation contained 6,100 derelict, ownerless mines and 1,170 unsafe openings in 2025. Although authorities have arrested dozens of suspects during weekly raids, police concede the nationwide crisis is too massive to contain. Deadly enforcement tactics, including cutting off underground food supplies in Stilfontein, highlight the severe human toll of the illicit sector.
Key points
Abandoned shafts left unsealed by commercial mining companies have enabled widespread ill…: Abandoned shafts left unsealed by commercial mining companies have enabled widespread illegal extraction across Johannesburg.
Law enforcement agencies acknowledge that the immense scale of informal mining operations…: Law enforcement agencies acknowledge that the immense scale of informal mining operations remains too vast for police to successfully manage.
Experts contend politicians scapegoat migrant miners for ground collapses that stem from…: Experts contend politicians scapegoat migrant miners for ground collapses that stem from a century of commercial mining vulnerabilities.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Cora Bailey has been encountering illegal miners ever since she first started treating injured animals in the townships around Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, in 1991. But as the price of gold has soared, so too has activity in the abandoned mine shafts that mark the area.
In late September, dozens of zama zamas – the name given to illegal miners in South Africa, meaning roughly “to take a chance” in Zulu – arrived to dig for gold across the dirt road from her charity, Claw (Community Led Animal Welfare).
Soon, they were taking water for their panning and processing from the organisation’s two 25,000-litre water tanks, which are filled irregularly by the city government for the 100 or so rescued and injured animals on site.
“We’ve asked them really nicely and haven’t ever refused them water to drink … But, for the first time ever, we closed the gate at 12 [midday], because we literally had about two buckets of water left,” Bailey said in mid-October.
Police told her that the scale of the illegal mining was too big for…
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