By Everson Luhanga
Drug dealers, construction mafia organisations, zama zamas, building hijackers, human traffickers, cable thieves, and many other syndicates have crippled the city of Johannesburg and posed an economic threat to Africa’s wealthiest economic hub.
David Tembe, a former member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety in the city of Johannesburg, said it will take a strong government to deal with the syndicates.
He believed the government should not sit and negotiate with this criminal mafia.
He said it would take the army, police, security companies, and community members to declare war against zama zamas to get rid of them.
He said at the moment, the government can’t fight the illegal miners who are heavily armed and supported by mafia bosses.
“You cannot expect a police officer carrying a pistol to confront illegal miners who are armed with weapons like AK47s,” he said.
“Our police need a specialised unit to deal with or fight the zama zamas. It becomes a big war because the miners put up a massive fight if the police try to stop them.”
He said law enforcement agencies must invest massively in training and 21st-century technology such as drones, body cameras, dashcams and officer wellness.
“The police must work closely with the community who will help them fight the zama zamas,” he said.
Tembe said that some of those in power benefit greatly from these illegal activities.
“Look at the men who are digging for gold. They can’t afford to buy the equipment they use to extract gold dust. Who supplies them with all the machinery? Who buys from them? Do you think that it will be easy to remove the miners from those abandoned shafts?” he asked.
“Just like any other illegal activities in our country, illegal mining is an industry that is well-coordinated, with a syndicate that involves high-profile people in power who have money. They will fight back by any means necessary and resist any attempt to remove them. It will take a long time to get rid of them.”
He said the police must be tough and smart if the government wants to deal with these syndicates.
“The zama zamas don’t hesitate to pull the trigger against police officials when they go for them. Police must fight fire with fire,” he said.
Predictive policing is the new way of fighting crime — preventing crime before it happens.
He said the government must bring in the army to normalise the situation and then the police will maintain that.
Pictured above: David Tembe
