Illegal miners remain foot soldiers of criminal syndicates - Mantashe

Mantashe was in the National Assembly on Thursday responding to a debate on persistent illegal mining activities and concomitant crimes.

The issue of illegal mining hit the headlines following the gang rape of eight women at an old mine dump in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

The incident led to a police crackdown on illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, in Gauteng.

Mantashe told MPs that illegal mining has cost the country's economy and the mining sector about R49 billion in 2019.

Mantashe said illegal mining remains a criminal activity and economic sabotage by undocumented foreigners.

"We must always resist the temptation of equating illegal mining to artisanal and small-scale mining. Artisanal mining is a formalised economic activity usually undertaken by citizens or documented inhabitants of a country.

“It must be clear that once an individual illegally enters our country and engages in illegal

economic activity, such an individual cannot be sanitised through being issued with a small-scale mining licence. Let us disabuse ourselves of that notion. Illegal miners are foot soldiers of criminal syndicates and must be dealt with like any other economic saboteur.

“It is becoming clear that Illegal mining is run by syndicates with a direct linkage to illegal migration. Recent arrests by the South African Police Service showed that those apprehended are in the majority undocumented illegal immigrants. If unchecked, illegal mining could be an existential threat to the sector.”

Mantashe said his department is working together with the ministry of police to establish a specialised unit to curb illegal mining.

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