Rockfall kills 14 illegal miners at disused South African mine
A rockfall at an illegal mine northwest of Johannesburg has killed 14 clandestine miners, most of them nationals of neighbouring Lesotho, with several others reported injured and some possibly still trapped underground, according to Africanews.
The collapse struck a disused mining site on Tuesday, South African police said, as reported by Africanews. The victims were among informal diggers — known locally as zama zamas — who enter abandoned workings to scavenge for residual ore.
A recurring crisis
Illegal mining in disused shafts across the Witwatersrand basin, the historic heartland of South Africa’s gold industry, has been a persistent safety and security challenge for years. Abandoned workings, often poorly ventilated and structurally unstable, draw thousands of informal diggers who scavenge for ore in an attempt to make a living.
Accidents at such sites are frequent and often deadly. The South African government has launched several operations over the years to shut down illegal mining activity and arrest those involved, but the practice has proved difficult to stamp out, given the deep poverty that drives participation and the vast number of abandoned shafts scattered across the region.
Cross-border labour
The predominance of Basotho among the victims reflects a well-established pattern of labour migration from Lesotho, the mountainous kingdom entirely surrounded by South African territory. For more than a century, Basotho men have crossed the border to work in South Africa’s mines, a relationship that dates to the late nineteenth century under the apartheid-era recruitment system and continues today in both formal and informal sectors.
With few economic opportunities at home, many Basotho continue to seek work in South Africa, including in the dangerous informal mining sector, where conditions are unregulated and the risk of fatal accidents remains high.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
- Africanews — 14 clandestine miners killed in disused South Africa mine
- africanews.com — 14 clandestine miners killed in disused South Africa mine
