By Everson Luhanga
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bold announcement during the State of the Nation Address to deploy the South African National Defence Force to crime-ridden areas of Gauteng and the Western Cape has been welcomed by many.
This is what South Africans wanted to hear, a clear and firm stance on how to fight crime in order to restore investor confidence in the country.
Many South Africans live in constant fear, not knowing what will happen to them, their families, loved ones, or even their properties.
As a crime reporter in Gauteng, I have seen many women, children, the elderly and the most vulnerable harassed by ruthless criminals.
In areas where zama zamas predominantly operate, such as the Johannesburg inner city, Booysens, Soweto, and West Rand areas like Kagiso, Krugersdorp and Mohlakeng, among several others, people have suffered at the hands of gun-wielding criminals for many years.
I have seen police ministers descend on areas like Soweto, Kagiso and Krugersdorp in Gauteng with specialised police units “smoking out” zama zamas from dark shafts and confiscating their equipment.
But alas, days after the police operations, the zama zamas return fully equipped, operating on an even larger scale.
In many cases, the provincial government has responded to crimes committed by zama zamas rather than conducting a pre-assessment of the heinous crimes committed by these unforgiving criminals.
For instance, the gang rape of eight women in Krugersdorp by a heavily armed, balaclava-wearing Basotho gang prompted former police minister Bheki Cele, the Gauteng provincial government and private security to descend on the area. They arrested hundreds of men from across the SADC region who had been working underground. Some of these men were lured into the country with promises of better jobs and ended up in deadly mine shafts with no clear plan to return home.
None of the arrested zama zamas were linked to the gang rape of the young women who were at the disused mine shaft filming a music video.
To this day, no one has been convicted of that crime. The case faded soon after the media stopped reporting on it. No one knows what happened to the case.
At the crime imbizo in Krugersdorp, called by Minister Cele and high-profile police officers, calls were made for the deployment of soldiers. That call fell on deaf ears within the national government.
In 2023, I wrote a story in which I interviewed the late former City of Johannesburg Chief of Police, David Tembe, who called on the President to deploy soldiers to deal with the sophisticated and heavily armed zama zamas.
Tembe told me that during his time as Chief of Police in the glittering City of Gold, he had encountered drug dealers, construction mafia organisations, zama zamas, building hijackers, human traffickers, cable thieves and many other syndicates that have crippled the City of Johannesburg and posed an economic threat to Africa’s wealthiest economic hub.
He said it would take the army, police, security companies and community members to declare war on zama zamas in order to eliminate them. He said that, at the moment, the government cannot 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 AK-47s,” he said.
“Our police need a specialised unit to deal with or fight the zama zamas. It becomes a full-scale war because the miners put up a massive fight if the police try to stop them.”
I must be honest: the South African Police Service, with the help of metro police, private security and community patrollers, has been doing all it can to curb the problem. The SAPS has thrown all the resources at its disposal into this fight, but it has not been winning the war against crime.
With several operations like Buya Umthetho, introduced by former Gauteng police commissioner General Elias Mawela, as well as Operation Shanela and Vala Umgodi aimed at curbing criminality, they have not been winning.
Heavily armed men walk freely through communities.
Last month, more than 600 families, mostly women and children, fled Randfontein, west of Johannesburg, after a surge in illegal mining violence.
Residents were forced to vacate their homes on 10 January as a result of escalating illegal mining activities. They say that since last November, their community has been terrorised by illegal miners who have also threatened to kidnap their children.
Terrified residents sought shelter at the Randgate Community Hall.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi had to intervene and provide them with alternative accommodation after media exposure.
This shows how deeply rooted this underground industry is.
There are strong suggestions that police officers are involved in this criminality.
The question is whether bringing in the soldiers will cut the chain between poor zama zamas and the main kingpins who buy the precious stones.
The people of Alexandra, Diepsloot and Westbury are among other communities in Gauteng grappling with horrific crime, where innocent people are senselessly killed. In October, crime activist Vincent Ndima was shot and killed in Alexandra.
We have seen community activists like Loyiso Toyiya and Lefa Nkala in Diepsloot being arrested for marching to their local police stations, calling for President Ramaphosa to come down to the township. The duo and their co-accused were charged with public violence.
Many people have been shot and killed in Alexandra, Diepsloot and Westbury by criminals.
As for the Western Cape, it is heartbreaking to wake up and hear that a large number of people have been killed in gang-related criminality, yet such heinous crimes do not even make newspaper headlines. Mass killings are no longer shocking because they happen so often that we have made them “normal”.
Activists like Ian Cameron, who is now a Member of Parliament and chairperson of the Police Portfolio Committee, have shouted at the top of their voices, seeking national government intervention, but nothing has happened.
The boots of the soldiers will be on the ground. But are we cutting off the head of this snake called crime, or is this just another State of the Nation Address promise to win the hearts of South Africans?
Pictured above: Police fight Zama Zamas in Kagiso.
Image source: Everson Luhanga
