Police were responding to a complaint about illegal mining in Wattville, when they were fired at, at random, by the miners.
Const Godfrey Metlhapi was shot and injured in the process.
Actonville police spokesman Capt Mack Mngomezulu said the miners were shooting from the shaft.
The police were first alerted to a new shaft in Wattville on October 7, when some illegal miners went to the police station to report that diggers were being held hostage and forced to dig gold underground by an armed rival gang.
The shaft, said to belong to the old Brakpan Mines, is situated near the Leeupan Dam and the multimillion Rand OR Tambo Cultural Precinct, in Wattville, and has already attracted about 200 people mining underground at a time.
They are mostly Zimbabweans and Lesotho nationals.
Mngomezulu said those who came to report the matter informed the police that the gang is armed with all kinds of firearms, including AK47 assault rifles.
“They alleged that the gang underground said they would only release the hostages on December 28,” said Mngomezulu.
The claims could not be confirmed, though, because the police’s hands are tied when it comes to underground matters.
This is the same reason illegal mining continues to mushroom unabated.
Mngomezulu said there is little the police can do to help, as they are mandated to deal only with matters on the surface.
“We are not allowed to go underground and we can only arrest people we find in possession of gold or unlicensed firearms,” said Mngomezulu.
On Wednesday, October 9, the entry to the shaft was barricaded with razor fence, but illegal miners dismantled it overnight.
An illegal miner known only as Thabo, spoke to the City Times from the shaft on October 10.
He denied reports of others being held hostage underground and that there are armed people underground.
“We mine peacefully in here, there are no guns and no fighting,” he said.
Thabo blamed unemployment for illegal mining.
Community leader in Wattville Kenny Ranyao said outside the shaft that illegal mining is bad, especially because it’s being carried out by foreigners who are in the country illegally.
He was concerned that it would soon spread among the locals if they learn that there is gold underground.
He said the country’s foreign policy needs to be re-examined, due to the influx of illegal foreigners in the country who are also mining illegally.
“Currently there is nothing that can be done about illegal mining, but a stricter foreign policy could be the solution to solving the problem of the high number of foreigners coming into the country,” said Ranyao.
Illegal mining and illegal miners being held hostage underground is not new in Benoni.
There have been several incidents, with the last occurring in August, when five illegal miners were reported dead underground after being shot at by a rival gang holding them hostage, at Aurora Mine’s Shaft Nine.
At least 12 people survived with critical injuries after being rescued by the Mine Rescue Team.
And, though some of the illegal miners said there were more than 37 people underground at the time, only 17 could be accounted for.
