Over 300 families are sheltering in a local community hall following a surge of targeted attacks by illegal miners, known as Zama Zamas, in the Sporong informal settlement. The crisis has prompted a high-level government intervention, with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and a contingent of officials conducting an emergency site visit to the embattled West Rand community.
The situation reached a boiling point this week, with residents fleeing their homes under threat. During his walkthrough of the scarred landscape, Premier Lesufi condemned the pervasive lawlessness. “The level of lawlessness is unbearable. It has reached a boiling point and we need to confront it,” Lesufi stated, accompanied by the MEC for Human Settlements, Tasneem Motara, and provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni.
Commissioner Mthombeni addressed the media, promising concrete police action. “A team will be deployed to the area to deal with the Zama Zamas who have been terrorising the community,” he said, adding that a specialised “stabilisation team” recently operational in the region had already made arrests and confiscated an AK-47 with over 220 rounds of ammunition last week.
A Complex Crisis with Deep Roots
The violence has exposed a multifaceted crisis extending far beyond immediate crime. David Van Wyk, Lead Researcher at the Benchmarks Foundation, outlined a chain of systemic failures fueling the illegal mining economy in an interview.
Van Wyk identified the root cause as the illegal abandonment of an estimated 6,000 mines by large corporations, followed by the abandonment of former mine workers who often lose pension benefits. This, combined with severe unemployment and poverty, creates a desperate labour pool for illicit operations.
He further detailed a heavily armed and syndicate-controlled industry. “The most common weapon… is the 9mm parabellum, which is standard issue police [arm],” Van Wyk said, citing poor control over state-issued firearms as a key source of weapons. He alleged that formal smelters and processing plants are involved in laundering illegal gold, while security operations typically target only the low-level miners, not the syndicate bosses.
The environmental toll is also severe. Van Wyk described the area along the Main Reef Road as looking “like Gaza,” with critical infrastructure destroyed and abandoned mines releasing methane at alarming rates. He criticized the failure to rehabilitate mines or formalize artisanal mining, despite past engagements between small-scale mining associations and the government.
Humanitarian Emergency Unfolds
On the ground, the human cost is stark. Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Faith Mazibuko, reported that her department is providing warm food, mattresses, and psychosocial support to the displaced, including many children and elderly individuals placed in temporary shelters.
Mazibuko raised grave concerns about gender-based violence, noting allegations that Zama Zamas go “house to house” to harass and sexually assault women. She urged victims to come forward, citing victim-friendly rooms at police stations, but acknowledged that many are fearful of opening cases.
The visit was punctuated by emotional appeals from long-time residents. One elderly man pleaded directly with Premier Lesufi and MEC Motara, stating he had lived in the area since the 1960s and was desperately seeking a house. MEC Motara acknowledged the province’s massive housing backlog, with 1.3 million registered applicants, and stated policy prioritizes those who registered between 1996 and 1999.
As officials prepared to address the displaced community at the hall, the immediate focus remains on restoring security. Premier Lesufi vowed to take “tough decisions,” signalling that the Sporong crisis has forced a concerted, multi-departmental response to a problem that has festered for years across the West Rand.