Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has emphasised that the government will not assist the illegal miners (zama zamas) who are trapped underground in unused mine shafts in Orkney and Stilfontein, North West.
Over 1 000 illegal miners who resurfaced from mines in Orkney and Stilfontein in the North West were arrested recently as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) intensified Operation Vala Umgodi by blocking entrances used by community members to deliver food, water and other necessities to the zama zamas.
GOVERNMENT WON’T ASSIST NORTH WEST ZAMA ZAMAS
During a briefing on Wednesday, 13 November, Ntshavheni emphasised that government would not assist the zama zamas and referred to them as criminals who need to be “persecuted”, not helped.
“You want us to send help to criminals? Honestly, we’re not sending help to criminals. We’re going to smoke them out, they will come out. We’re not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped, criminals are to be persecuted.
“We didn’t send them there, and they didn’t go down there for the good benefit or good intentions for the republic. So, we can’t help them, those who want to help them must go and take the food down there. They will come out and we’ll arrest them,” Ntshavheni said.
Meanwhile, 15 zama zamas resurfaced from Margaret Shaft in Stilfontein on Tuesday. These include Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Basotho, and South Africans.
Police said zama zamas would appear before the Stilfontein Magistrates’ Court on charges of possessing gold dust, contravention of the Immigration Act (2002) and illicit mining.
DO YOU THINK GOVERNMENT’S DECISION NOT TO ASSIST THE ZAMA ZAMAS IN NORTH WEST MINES?
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