They were all waiting in the middle of a field strewn with rubble. On one side were around 30 uniformed police officers. On the other were around 40 locals in mud-stained boots. Each group was in their own corner, in the sweltering heat. Between the two camps was a gaping hole – “umgodi,” say the local miners, in Zulu. At the bottom of this concrete abyss, more than a kilometer underground, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of illegal miners were under siege.
For over a month now, the face-off between these “zama zamas” – “those who try,” in Zulu – and law enforcement has been going on around one of the largest disused gold mines in South Africa, in the North-West province, two hours from Johannesburg. At the bottom of the old ventilation shaft, more than five meters in diameter, which serves as their front door, the miners said they needed help to get the weakest out.
On the surface, police officers explained that the “zama zamas” refused to surrender. In mid-November, a minister caused a scandal by promising to “asphyxiate” them to get them out of this officially closed mine. Since the end of 2023, the country has declared war on illegal miners – associated with various criminal networks waging bloody turf wars – by launching “Operation Vala Umgodi” (“Plugging the holes”) in several provinces.
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