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CWA # 1593, 31 January 2025
NIAS Africa Studies
Illegal mining in Southern Africa: Actors, Issues and Concerns

  Anu Maria Joseph

In September, the South African government cut off food, water, and essential deliveries to an abandoned gold mine in the country’s northwestern Stilfontein town. The plan was to force out thousands of illegal miners. According to government figures, more than 3000 people are involved in the illegal mining of gold and diamonds in South Africa, with Stilfontein town being the hotspot. The government claims that illegal mining causes the country a USD one billion annual loss.
 
South Africa’s Minister in Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni commented that the government would “smoke them out.” The government says more than 350-400 miners are trapped in the Stilfontein shaft. The miners refuse to come out in fear of penalties and prison charges. Besides, many of them are undocumented migrants from Lesotho and Mozambique. They fear deportation.
 
Illegal mining is not unique to South Africa. Neighbouring countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe face similar issues with widespread discussion on the impact of illegal mining on the environment. The root cause effects of illegal mining in Southern Africa are systemic, often connected to poverty, migration, criminal syndicates, unemployment, labour exploitation, environmental degradation, loss of livelihood and so on.
 
Who are the miners?
In South Africa, the illegal miners are largely known as Zama Zamas. They emerged after many large mining companies closed down over less profitable operations and legal complications during the early 2000s. Zama Zamas are a common name for illegal miners. The phrase means “keep on trying” or “to gamble.” They explore abandoned and unsealed shafts to scavenge for gold. A majority of them are undocumented migrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho, who are ready to risk anything to survive. The arrested miners in South Africa’s Stilfontein shaft included 919 Mozambocans, 382 Zimbabweans, 65 Basothos and 13 South Africans. Many refuse to come up and are trapped inside due to the fear of arrest and deportation.
 
In Zimbabwe, the miners are locally known to be “markorokoza.” Unlike South Africa, Zimbabwe’s government unveiled a plan in October 2019 to revitalize the mining sector to create a USD 12 billion economy by 2023. Many large-scale and small-scale miners in the country legally carry out mining. However, small-scale illegal miners or markorokozas are rampant. They are traditional mining artisans. They do not abide by responsible mining practices. They often mine inside the support pillars of the underground wells of tunnels. These pillars are unmined rocks left untouched to support the overlying ground. Illegal mining of the pillar poses a danger to the environment and nearby residential areas. Access to mining shafts by the illegal miners is provided by what they locally call “mabosses.” Mabosses have political links and run illegal mining pits. The illegal miners pay mabosses in the form of gold. There are around 400,000 illegal small-scale miners in Zimbabwe.
 
In Zambia, besides gold, copper, silver, and zinc are major targets of illegal miners. Illegal mining is carried out by large-scale unscrupulous firms. However, illegal mining is a source of livelihood for many traditional artisans, undocumented migrants and people who cannot be employed by the formal sector.
 
Major issues
First, rising environmental concerns. In 2023, 14 children were injured in the Kwekwe mining town of Zimbabwe after their school classroom caved underground. It was caused by illegal mining of the rock pillars which were holding the school for years. Multiple similar events happened in Kwekwe town caused by illegal mining. In May 2023, a house collapsed and was swallowed by a mine pit. Illegal mining threatens the underground pillars which hold the ground without crashing. This is posing a significant life threat to livestock, the town's infrastructure, environment and people. According to a study by the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) in 2024, Kwekwe town is sitting in a "ticking time bomb" which might collapse anytime. Besides, illegal blasts and ground vibrations caused structural damage around the town.
 
In South Africa, the major issue is abandoned mines exploited by illegal mining groups. The practice is prevalent in abandoned mines due to failed measures to close the mine. Sometimes, illegal miners reopen the closed shafts using dynamite through the sealed entrances. While illegal and unsafe methods are taken to conduct mining without following responsible measures, they pose significant environmental threats to the surrounding regions.
 
Second, human rights concerns. Illegal mining is carried out in an environment of lawlessness. Miners spend months inside the shaft without proper food and sanitation and a risk of possible death. A possible collapse of mines and poisonous gases are major threats. In 2009, 82 illegal miners were killed in South Africa after a spill of poisonous gasses. Illegal mining is also associated with criminal gangs and syndicates. They often exploit the illegal miners and are subjected to torture and extrajudicial executions in these lawless zones. Often illegal miners are treated as criminals by governments. Recently, South Africa's Minister for Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni said that no help will be provided to the miners adding: "Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted."  

Third, the question of livelihood. For small-scale individual miners, this is their livelihood. They depend on contractors for market and supply of food and water to shafts. There is an entire economy underground. For miners who have lost their jobs, traditional mining artisans, and undocumented migrants, illegal mining and the lobby becomes livelihood. They endure extreme mining conditions, low wages, and human rights abuses to make a living. With unemployment, lack of access to secure jobs in formal sectors, and poverty, illegal mining becomes a lifesaver.
 
Fourth, criminal syndicates, gangs, smuggling and black market. Illegal mining and trade are often associated with criminal gangs and syndicates that are heavily armed. These gangs exploit undocumented migrants from Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Often, small-scale miners are recruited by these criminal syndicates who have access to international black markets. Miners are demanded to work under harsh conditions at gunpoint. While those who control this lobby make a fortune, miners become the scapegoats of legal implications.
 
Fifth, the impact on the domestic economy. According to several records, South Africa holds nearly 30 per cent of gold deposits. However, the lack of cost-effective mining methods and inaccessibility to these gold deposits have made the majority of mines unprofitable. Additionally, illegal mining is causing a USD one billion loss of revenue to the country every year. The illegal mining sector does not offer any royalties to the state, making it an "economic sabotage." This is the case for all illegal mining sectors across southern Africa. It has also increased the number of criminal gangs, and crimes associated with mining.
 
What does it mean?
A higher unemployment rate among skilled miners has contributed to the increasing illegal mining in the region. Legalising artisanal mining is adopted by many countries similar to Zimbabwe to avoid irresponsible mining and hold of criminal gangs. Respective governments require effective regulatory and monitoring frameworks to discourage illegal mining by the small-scale mining sector and methods to address the unemployment issue among the miners. 
 
The major issue behind increasing illegal mining in Southern African countries is the lack of state mechanisms to regulate and monitor the sector. The state is ill-capacitated to make use of the abundant mineral deposits and the skilled mining labourers. It is additionally inefficient in controlling the lobby of criminal gangs and syndicates and the black market associated with illegal mining. Besides, the state has insufficient mechanisms to ensure proper closure and securing of abandoned and unused mines. Again, often the illegal mining sector is associated with higher political power links. 

About the author
Anu Maria Joseph is a Project Associate at NIAS.

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