South Africa digs deep: Anti-illegal mining operation prospers

A police officer interacts with security personnel at the gate of a disused mine near Rustenburg, North West province. South African police said 14 illegal miners were killed and scores of others injured at the disused mine. Image credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Ramaphosa praised the joint operation between the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR), and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

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Prosperous operation

According to the president, the operation has disrupted illegal mining operations across the country, making more than 1,000 arrests and seizing 19 firearms, more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and 41 commercial vehicles.

ENCA reports that operations have also led to the seizure of 83 generators, over 1,000 refining drums, nearly 2,000 kilogrammes of gold-bearing material and approximately 150 kilogrammes of gold.

Despite these gains, the president said more can be done to speed up efforts to curb illegal mining.

“Because we are dealing with a number of areas where these illegal activities are taking place, the progress might seem to be slow, and yet work is being done,” said Ramaphosa.

To end the scourge, the president said the DPMR would close even more illegal mine shafts. Currently, the department closes about 40 mining shafts exploited by illegal miners per year.

According to SABC News, Operation Prosper has been deployed since March to various communities in the Western and Eastern Cape, Gauteng and parts of North West to combat illegal mining and gangsterism.

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Formalising artisnal mining

While this intervention has been working, mining stakeholders say the key to ending it lies in formalising artisanal mining.

The Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) previously warned that illegal mining could destabilise the formal sector.

Therefore, the MCSA believes stopping illegal mining lies in the pragmatic formalisation and regularisation of artisanal mining in selected communities where it is practised.

According to the council, this will ensure that artisanal and small-scale miners operate within the ambit of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act as legitimate, tax-paying, law-abiding entities.

However, it stressed that this process will not legitimise illegal mining syndicates.