Rough estimates of Zama Zama outputs suggest that lost gold production exceeds R14bn a year‚ making South Africa one of the biggest sources of illicit gold in Africa.
"Although active gold mines affected by illegal miners are legally entitled to remove them‚ the current approach‚ which favours using the law to bring them to heel‚ is misguided and counter-productive. The poverty and socio-economic factors driving the phenomenon are bigger and more relentless than the rule of law‚" says Alan Martin‚ a technical adviser and investigative researcher for Enact‚ specialising in small-scale gold and diamond supply chains.
There are an estimated 30‚000 illegal miners‚ colloquially known as Zama Zamas‚ a Zulu expression meaning either"take a chance" or"try your luck"‚ who operate in ownerless and disused mines in South Africa‚ his report states. The Department of Mineral Resources estimates there may be as many as 6‚000 such mines scattered across the country‚ although most of them are found in and around Johannesburg.
Martin says:"In more recent years the miners‚ organised by criminal syndicates‚ have also gained access to active mines‚ causing considerable financial losses and security headaches."
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