Everson Luhanga
Lerato Nkoana said her zama zama boyfriend took care of them very well. But then lockdown struck.
“The streets were quiet. Soldiers and police were everywhere. It was very scary especially for a zama zama to leave home with his equipment,” she said.
The couple live in the Zamimpilo squatter camp in the Longdale Industrial area near Riverlea, Johannesburg.
She said her family only survived through food parcels given to them by Good Samaritans.
“With lockdown, going into the tunnels was now more dangerous than ever,” she said.
“Some were arrested. Some never came back. We don’t know what happened to them.”
Muhao Tshabalala said he had been working for a construction company for more than ten years but then lockdown came and the company closed down.
“I had no other means of finding money. I became a zama zama in October,” he said.
Themba Nyambo, who works as a zama zama at Faraday in Johannesburg central said he lost his job at a restaurant in Maboneng when lockdown was implemented.
“I lived a decent life with my family but that all ended with the hard lockdown.
“The only way to find the money was to follow the guys into the shafts,” he said.
A resident of Braamfischerville extension nine in Soweto says perhaps the government should legalise the industry.
“The increasing number of zama zamas is a problem. The guys are killing each other,” she said.
Phenduka machines for separating the dust from the gold are found all over communities in Johannesburg, Soweto, and Ekurhuleni.
Joel Mabaso from Braamfischerville said every day they see new faces as young men see the mines as an alternative to a life of street crime.
“There are no jobs. People are desperate. Many young people are becoming zama zamas. They say they are running away from committing crimes that would land them in jail.”
