Question

Who are the illegal miners in South Africa? They are often illegal immigrants, largely from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho or other central and southern African nations that come to South Africa in search of striking it rich, or at the very least, making a decent living. In South Africa, the illegal miners are often referred to as the Zama Zamas, a term that means “trying your luck”. These immigrants come to South Africa to earn a living with the hopes of remitting earnings back to their families in their respective homelands.Some illegal miners are South Africans who view illegal mining as a dangerous, albeit potentially remunerative activity. Some of the South African illegal miners can be described as “legal miners by day, yet illegal by night.” In other words, they might be gainfully employed by a mining firm and work legitimately for the company during the day shift, but re-enter the mine when evening falls to bolster their income. These individuals are particularly useful to a group of illegal miners given their familiarity with the mine and its risks. It is also quite possible that the South African illegal miners are unemployed mineworkers that were previously laid off by the mining companies when they were forced to retrench as a result of increasing global competitive pressures. Alternatively, illegal mineworkers may simply be young, black South Africans (without any previous mining experience) seeking a living in a nation that has struggled to reach its potential in the post-apartheid era and where one out of four South Africans is unemployed.Regardless of the nationality or the motivations that landed the illegal miners in this role, one thing is certain: it is not an easy life. Illegal miners may break into the very mines they work in by day, or often work in abandoned or disused mine shafts. (Disused mine shafts are mines that legitimate mining companies are in the process of closing down because they are no longer economically viable, but where the firms are awaiting final permits issued by the government to “officially” close the mine. Mining companies complain that all too frequently, the government-issued permit is delayed for months, thus exacerbating the illegal mining problem.) The miners often align themselves with a group of miners united in their illegal search of striking it rich. There is power in numbers. Being part of a group offers protection from rival factions of illegal mine workers, and fosters some level of camaraderie as the freelance miners ‘watch over’ one another. Since illegal miners are typically not employees of any business, nor members of any union and often times, not even citizens of South Africa, it can be said, that if it wasn’t for these informal groups, the miners would have no one else with even an ounce of their interests in mind. The groups generally work for a leader (a “kingpin”) who organizes runners to bring food and drinks to them, while the “miners” stay underground, some times for days – and even months - at a time. Illegal miners often run the risk of falling prey to other serious crimes. Illegal miners’ lives have been threatened - and lost - when they have refused to relinquish the deftly collected gold particles in their possession to thieves. Deaths, however, often go unreported, and as a result, there is no way of knowing how many illegal miners lose their lives each year. Only when there is a more visible event – such as a fire that went out of control in an abandoned mineshaft in 2009, killing 76 people, is a light shed on the plight and the working conditions of these workers.

**Word limit 2000-3000 words**

Answer 1

"A person who works illegally in abandoned mineshafts in order to retrieve metals or minerals" are called zama zamas.

"It's hard to find jobs in south africa"

illegal mining is the only work in which there's no need for any qualifications and knowledge. that's why people go for illegal mining.

Many thousands of people are currently estimated to be involved in illegal mining, both directly and indirectly, miners ente mostly abandoned shafts, travelling as far as 4 km.underground where they may live for several days at a tim, risking their lives and the lives of others.

The minerals and petroleum resources development act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) specifically prohibits mining without the required statutory authorisation (Section 5(4))

In south africa, it is illegal to be in possession of unwrought precious metal ore, platinum group metals (PGMs), gold-bearing material and rough diamonds without the required statutory authorisation.

Illegal mining and organised crime are interrelated. in 2016, the excessive use of water by zama zamas to process the gold bearing material became apparent,which directly impacts on local communities.

Many illegal minors have lost their lives in accidents, often fetally injured in falls of ground or killed in factional rivalry. they make illegal electricity connections from the mine's electrical infrastructure. Any intruption of the mine's electricity supply could creat significant risk to the the mine's ventilation system underground and to the ability to hoist persons out from under ground.

Illegal miners tend to use extremely environmentally , unfriendly refining methods and materials. which also put their health at grave risk.

Around 30,000 illegal miners work in and around thousands of disused and active mines across south africa.

Another serious impact is the health hazards as a result of pollution from gases,noise,dust and polluted water.

Another serious impact is on the female workers. they get raped, sexually assaulted by mens. they have to work because south africa has an unemployment rate of 27% and opportunities are scant.

There's lots of risks in illegal mining like environmental and health problems several accidents have occured and in some cases this has led to fatalities in the mines. the condition of the illegal miners are very poor but to feed their families they have to do this work unwillinglly. it's a sad reality of south africa's illegal miners.