Morero NkhomoGOLD RUSH: Government, police back off after stumbling on Zama Zamas illegally occupying government property in the quaint goldfields enclave – all reportedly armed to the teeth…
By Bongani Hlatshwayo
The Mpumalanga government is gearing up for a massive sting operation following the latest discovery of a large-scale Illegal mining activity by a large group of heavily armed miners from neighbouring countries, who have taken control of the heritage tourist goldfields town.
Hardly a month the province awoke to a security scare when police intelligence uncovered a military training camp in White River in Mpumalanga, disguised as a security training camp, whereby, 95 Libyan nationals were arrested, now the province has uncovered another illegal mining hotspot – Pilgrim’s Rest, nestling about 100km west of Nelspruit and 369km east of Johannesburg.
This time around, this tourist heritage town established during the gold rush in 1873 has turned into a ghost town, festooned with heavily armed illegal miners, purportedly from the Kingdom of Lesotho and other neighbouring countries, who have taken control of the town and its ancient goldfields.
Last Friday, the bandits sent an entourage led by Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Jackie Macie, accompanied by security forces, including media representatives, scurrying and abandoning their fact-finding mission to mitigate the Zama Zama invasion of the tourist town.
Macie said the provincial authorities have prioritised the matter for urgent multi-disciplinary intervention to takedown the dangerous bandits who have seized the town.
Speaking to Macie on the sidelines of the Road Safety Schools Debate contest the following day, was much revealing as the MEC related the hair-raising story encounter during their short-lived official visit to the tourist town.
“We arrived there on Friday 22 August for an operation to be conducted to tackle the invasion of the Zama Zamas, but unfortunately, according to the intelligence information we received on our arrival, we realised that we were not yet ready.
“Their occupation has been ongoing for the past two years, and (they) have taken over the occupation of the Public Works properties, where they reside after conducting their illegal mining activities. They are vigilant, Bongani Hlatshwayo, and they are ready to fight.
“These are foreign nationals; and they are many. They come from Lesotho, Mozambique and as far as Malawi and they have occupied the entire town. This is an urgent matter that needs the direct intervention of the JPS, where we have to thoroughly strategise.
“We have put emphasis on the urgency that it needs to be tackled soonest. Our satisfaction at this point in time, is that we now know exactly how the situation is there, unlike relying on hearsay, it will be resolved amicably as a priority issue,” he said.
Responding to the question that Mpumalanga seems to be a security scare ever since the intelligence’s discovery over a month ago, Macie said: “Maybe to a certain extent, you can say it’s a security threat to the country. Luckily, we’ve been able to identify the current one.
“We know who they are and how they operate. We will minimise the security threat to the country and exactly know how we will tackle it and stabilise the situation and reclaim our town from these elements,” he said. How about tourism in this part of town? Are tourists safe here?
“Definitely, tourism has been affected severely here as they shy away from this town anymore. It has affected the hotels here and surrounding establishments. It’s a total shutdown, to be precise. Tourists are afraid to set foot here, we have to drastically resolve the situation.”
What message should be relayed to the public?
“The situation is a worrying factor indeed. We are attending to the situation as a department and all security structures that have been tasked with the responsibility, that they safeguard the country against the current situation. There’s no need to worry nor to panic, we know exactly what to do,” he said assuredly. In terms of the long existence of illegal mining in this province and the country as a whole that has bred the existence of Zama Zamas, what is the ultimate solution to it?
“The issue of illegal mining is a national crisis because it’s all over the country. It has affected the whole country. It’s a national crisis.
“It also needs national (government) to come into the space where they declare a place as a mining spot, they need to legalise it by issuing mining licenses to curb this situation that has created Zama Zamas.
“The mere persistence of Zama Zamas to illegally mine in our areas, indicates that there are resources which need the intervention of the Department of Minerals and Energy to come to the space, conduct a survey of the places, declare them operational and issue licenses and create jobs for the people.
“In conclusion, if there’s validity of the existence of minerals, let it be legalised and spare the lives of our people and let tourists enjoy their visits here to learn about the history of this historic town once again,” he concluded.
Pilgrim’s Rest is a small museum town protected as a provincial heritage site, according to Wikipedia, It was the second of the Transvaal gold fields, attracting a rush of prospectors in 1873, soon after the diggings started some five kilometres away. Alluvial panning eventually gave way to deeper ore mining. In the 1970s the town, not greatly changed, became a tourist destination.
After it was officially declared a gold field in September 1873, the town suddenly grew to 1 500 inhabitants searching for alluvial gold.
Mining was closed down in 1971 and the village was sold to the government as a national museum. Transvaal Gold Mining Estates Limited started mining again in 1998, according to Wikipedia. It is currently owned by Theta Gold Mines Limited, an Australian listed company. On May 15 2004, the old TGME reduction works was added to the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list but was removed in 2016.
The town’s original architecture remains largely unchanged because the town was declared a national monument. It became a provincial heritage site in 1986. The village is a cultural heritage site and living museum with a variety of village museums, tours, accommodation, restaurants and shops. – Mpumalanga Mirror- Additional reporting by Len Maseko
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