The provincial commissioner of police in Gauteng, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, led the meeting between the police, local municipalities and mining houses in the area. The initiative happened in Merafong City Local Municipality’s council chambers on 1 July.
Carletonville police’s communication officer, WO Peter Masooa, says the SAPS West Rand district commissioner, Major General Fred Kekana and the executive mayors of the West Rand District Municipality, Merafong Local Municipality, Mogale City, Rand West City, various other stakeholders, senior management of SAPS and other law enforcement agencies also attended.
According to Masooa, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the impact and prevention of illicit mining and essential infrastructure-related crime.
Everyone who attended had an opportunity to give ideas on how these crimes could be prevented or stopped. They could also provide input on how the crimes affected their areas.
Illegal mining has become a serious problem in our area during the past 10 years. While the zama-zamas cause the mines to suffer losses by stealing gold-bearing rock, they are also involved in an increasing number of other crimes. Many kidnappings in our area, for instance, are also linked to illegal mining and are often perpetrated by zama-zamas.
Because of this, the Carletonville policing precinct is among the top 10 areas in the country with the most reported kidnappings.
During the past two years, infrastructure theft has also skyrocketed. Illegal miners, many of whom are also in the country illegally, are involved in many of these crimes.
The meeting also addressed other related crimes in West Rand District through a multi-disciplinary approach.
During the meeting, it was decided that the only way the various government structures and companies can work together to fight these problems is to establish a specialised district mining crime forum.
If all goes according to plan, this forum will soon get off the ground.
The next follow-up meeting was scheduled for the coming week. It will probably take place at Randfontein because it is more central for all the role players.