The Stilfontein tragedy reveals that SA is facing inevitable consequences of our social ills and official neglect, writes Mcebisi Ndletyana.
Has the State lost its moral compass? This is what some people are asking following the government's handling of the standoff with illegal miners at Stilfontein, near Klerksdorp in the North West.
Beginning in August of last year at a disused Buffelfontein Gold Mine, the standoff led to over 109 deaths. Most of these fatalities, a pathologist concluded, were caused by starvation and dehydration. Injuries, which could have been inflicted through skirmishes or caused by falling, were also identified as another cause of death.
The leading causes of death - i.e. starvation and injury - are what have attracted furious accusations of callousness against the government.
Stilfontein horrors are not new
The police prohibited the supply of refreshments to the miners as they clamped down on illegal mining. This was part of a broader operation, dubbed Operation Vala Umgodi (Close the Hole), which was initiated in December 2023. The police disallowed the supply of nourishment following the miners' refusal to heed their pleas to resurface voluntarily.
It's easy, and understandable, to berate the police, in the light of resultant deaths, of callousness. However, it's difficult to figure out how else they could have handled the standoff, especially given background of this matter.
The horrors at Stilfontein are not new. They've happened elsewhere since the start of illegal mining at closed mines throughout the country.
Before Stilfontein, in July 2023, 17 residents of an informal settlement, in Boksburg, died from nitrate gas. Illegal miners used one of the shacks in the area for smelting. The gas cylinders leaked. People just dropped and died. Some were found on the streets.
Just four months before the Boksburg fatalities, 31 illegal miners died in Welkom at a disused mine from gas explosion. If not casualties of their own illegal trade, the miners have been perpetrators of horror upon innocent residents.
In other words, the zama zamas, as they're also known, are not only engaged in an illegal activity that caused multiple deaths, but are also culprits of other forms of crime.
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Contrary to what their name suggests, zama zama's are not just innocently fending for themselves, but also destroying innocent lives and infrastructure. They've caused water leakages and the collapse of roads. All this carnage obviously couldn't have escaped the attention of law enforcement agencies. When the police tried to arrest them, they responded with gunfire. They use high-calibre firearms such as AK-47s and hunting rifles and run for cover into mine shafts, where they remain hidden for months on end.
To the police, zama zamas ceased being mere criminals. They possibly look at them as "enemies of the State". The police are not only enraged by the fact that zama-zama's have the audacity to open fire on them, but are also frustrated at their inability to arrest some of them.
The pressure from the public to put a permanent end to this illegal activity has simply added to their frustration. Operation Vala Umgodi was their last recourse. This involved sealing most of the entry points into shafts, thereby forcing them to exit at points where the police would be standing guard. How else could the police have flushed out the zama zamas to arrest them?
One sympathises with the police in this instance. Justified as their operation may have been, however, their actions still have limits. Zama zamas don't cease being human because of their criminality. South Africa's Constitution, which is embedded in the Bill of Rights, implores the State to treat everybody with dignity. Even after conviction, as criminals, zama zamas would still have rights. Prisoners do vote, for example. This is what the courts reminded the police of as they presided over complaints brought by concerned individuals and lobby groups.
What we've been witnessing here is a healthy tension between the police and the courts. The police have to arrest criminals, while the courts' duty is to ensure they do so humanely.
Delay operations
Courts ordered the police to initiate rescue operations and allow the supply of nourishment and medication. The police were not happy with the orders. They retorted that illegal miners are not trapped, but are simply refusing to resurface. Some have attempted coming out, only to return on seeing the police. Therefore, they didn't need any rescuing. Giving them food, the police added, would encourage them to remain underground, thereby continuing to evade arrest. Moreover, the rescue operation was to be costly, at R1 million per day.
Notwithstanding their unhappiness with the court orders, the police didn't defy them. What they did, it seems, was to delay the rescue operation and frustrate supplies to the miners. They wanted them to suffer as long as they could. The police weren't about to mollycoddle criminals. They're fed up. And, it's understandable. Criminals don't hesitate to unleash deadly fire at both innocent people and the police. People are even being robbed and killed in churches and during mourning services.
There's little sympathy for criminals in South Africa. The police are responding to pleas for stern action. This explains why Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, KwaZulu-Natal's provincial police commissioner, has become an instant hero since appointment. KwaZulu-Natal police adopted a tough stance when dealing with criminals. If fired upon, they shoot back to kill.
We're facing inevitable consequences of our social ills and official neglect. Zama-zamas are not inherently criminal. Bullfontein Gold Mine was the major employer at Stilfontein. When the mine shut down in 1998, there was no other industry to serve as a source of employment. Retrenched workers returned to the closed mine to eke out a living. First, they stripped it to sell the scraps. When there was nothing else to strip, they went down to the bosom of the Earth, for gold. The mine still had gold. It was closed simply because it became too expensive to continue operations. Gold mining, because they have to dig deep into the earth, is a highly expensive operation. Miners knew there was still gold and were familiar with traders looking for illegal gold.
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In the face of nothing else, illegal mining became a major economic activity at Stilfontein. It stimulated other economic activities.
Mfanafuthi Ngcobo, a resident of the nearby informal settlement, Jerusalem, supplied polypropylene bags to the miners. These are bags often used to package mielie meal. Speaking to a reporter, Ngcobo relayed how he stumbled onto the idea: "I have been living here since 2009, when this settlement was still very small. I did not have a job when we started noticing these guys coming into our settlement in 2013. While interacting with them, I realised they needed bags that are strong to carry their gold-bearing ore."
Taverns and landlords have also benefitted. Backrooms were rented out for both personal and business use. Miners also used backrooms for smelting. Sales of alcohol have shot up. Covid-19 lockdown was particularly profitable for shebeen owners. Miners weren't bothered paying inflated prices.
We haven't heard the last of the zama-zamas. We'll continue to have them as long as mining towns don't diversify their economies; and mine bosses and the State don't rehabilitate mines. With more deadly crime committed, its unavoidable that the police will adopt even tougher measures. Courts will come under heavy criticism for their insistence on a measured approach to criminals.
The ultimate danger our social ills pose, however, is to the quality of our political system. Democracies don't do well in societies afflicted by high rates of crime. Human rights become a nuisance. Demagogues thrive as they offer easy solutions. Let's not blame the police at Stilfontein. The problem is much bigger.
- Mcebisi Ndletyana is professor of political studies at the University of Johannesburg.
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