‘Mantšali Phakoana
South Africa has blamed Lesotho nationals for Saturday’s fatal shootout between rival groups of illegal miners, known as zama-zamas, in Riverlea, Johannesburg.
SA police minister Bheki Cele told the media on Monday after meeting with the Riverlea community that his government put the blame on Basotho illegal miners.
He said they were responsible for violence linked to illegal mining in the area.
Five bodies with gun shots were found on the scene.
A total of 48 undocumented foreigners were arrested at the informal settlements around Riverlea on Wednesday this week during a search operation, police said.
Four of them were found in possession of AK47 rifles and some pistols. Police said they confirmed that they were from Lesotho.
In an effort to address violence connected to illegal mining, Cele told the Riverlea community that he had met several times with the Lesotho minister of local government, chieftainship, home affairs and police, Lebona Lephema.
“I have met the minister of police in Lesotho, not once, to raise issues surrounding illegal mining in South Africa,” Cele said.
He also claimed that Basotho gangs brought their rivalry to the neighbouring country and continue to engage in deadly fights.
Cele’s accusations come barely a month after his counterpart, minister of natural resources and energy Gwede Mantashe accused Lesotho of sabotaging South Africa’s economy.
Mantashe’s accusations followed the death of 31 suspected Basotho illegal miners at an abandoned mine in Welkom.
The incidents led to the minister of foreign affairs and international relation, Lejone Mpotjoane, conceding that the state of the Lesotho’s economy was contributing to widespread illegal mining in South Africa.
Mpotjoane noted that the government was aware of some Basotho’ exploits in SA, further indicating that the government did not condone illegal activities.
He said the government was aware of Cele’s allegations although there has not been any official report from the SA government to Lesotho.
However, Mpotjoane confirmed ministers Lebona and Cele had held several meetings to discuss the issue of illegal mining in South Africa in a bid to find solutions.
He indicated that the two ministers agreed to form a joint security operation to deal with such matters associated with the ‘zama-zamas’.
Mpotjoane added that the government was aware of the increasing number of Basotho going to South Africa to look for jobs. Unfortunately, he said, some ended up embarking on criminal activities.
“Basotho go to South Africa to seek jobs and if they do not find legal employment, some opt for crime. We are not proud of that, hence the government had established farming programmes to curb unemployment in the country.
“Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa. We share boundaries and it would only be in our favour if we strengthen our relations,” he said.
He added: “The effects of crimes and conflicts do not only affect relations with our neighbour, but also for Basotho who are working in South Africa legally.”
A gang of the’ zama-zamas’ who confirmed they were from Lesotho were seen on SA news on Monday.
The gang told the media and the SA police who were searching for them around illegal mines that they were members of the ‘Terene’ gang.
‘Terene’ is a group of famo musicians who are identified by their kind of blankets and music.
Rivalry between famo music gangs in Lesotho has sparked years of fatal fights that have contributed to the country’s unenviable position as the sixth country with the highest murder rates in the world.
The ‘zama-zamas’ told the SA media that they were fighting with their ‘Terene’ colleagues who wanted to take over their illegal mining areas.
“When we started mining here, we were all ‘Terene’ gang members, but the other group that stays near the plant have now turned against us, they want to kill us. They forget that we are all here to look for money.
“We are zama-zamas working at the nearby mines. As you can see, we have grouped ourselves and are always alert that when they come, we run because these people took all the guns with them,” they said.
The illegal miners also revealed that they work with others from Zimbabwe, local Zulus and Ndebele.
“When the rival group comes, we instruct the other nationals to leave because they are not part of this fight between the ‘Terene’ gang members. They do not know that the root causes of this fight are blankets and famo music,” said one of the zama-zamas.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Lephema confirmed meeting with Cele.
He indicated that the meetings were not only to discuss issues surrounding illegal mining, but also other criminal activities by nationals in each other’s country.
Lephema noted that they had also agreed to collaborate on efforts to combat stock theft which occurs between the two countries.
“Our view is that it is also very important and necessary for South Africa to hunt down buyers of the gold recovered in the illegal mines because clearly, it is not sold here in Lesotho,” he said.
He added that they were also working together to check if the guns used by the illegal miners are not linked to any other crimes in the two countries. “We’ve also agreed to intensify efforts to curb stock theft. We’ve realised that nationals from the two countries steal livestock from another, or they steal from their own countries and sell to another,” Lephema added
