Of grave concern is the illegal miners’ disregard for safety in their blasting operations, threatening lives of the public.
Smuggled explosives have emerged as the lifeline of illegal mining, with researchers blaming weak control systems and lack of targeted and effective detective work to determine the source of the illegal explosives. According to Institute for Security Studies researchers, illegal miners or zama zamas run operations in which the profits outweigh the risks. According to the Minerals Council of South Africa, illegal mining cost the country R7 billion annually.
According to the Minerals Council of South Africa, illegal mining cost the country R7 billion annually. Illegal miners do not only use the explosives for mining operations, but also use them as booby traps strategically placed in the tunnels to harm or kill anyone who tries to get to them.has reported how the menace of illegal mining has spread from traditional strongholds of Gauteng and North West into other provinces, bringing with it violent crime and a threat to tourism.
A mine manager told the researchers how mine personnel such as blasters and their assistants steal cartridges, which are fairly difficult to obtain by other means due to regulations, with every blast and sell them to the illegal miners.
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