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Illegal mining pentalogy: Zama zamas’ bodies dumped on road (Part 1)

Hardly a stone's throw from the houses on the slopes of the Barberton mountains, the illegal miners are destroying the nature and creating a situation that could result in a major disaster.

April 28, 2017
De Wet Potgieter 2 minutes read
As the mining debris increases (as seen in this photograph), "one big flash flood and houses will be buried under the mining rubble flushed down the slopes".

BARBERTON – Once upon a time Barberton was an international tourist destination where historians and tourists could go and walk in the footsteps of history and savour the memories of days gone by, when rugged miners flocked to the town in search of their fortunes.

Today it is too dangerous for law-abiding people to walk on the scenic hiking trails in the surrounding mountains.

Thanks to the lawless way that illegal miners (zamas zamas) are allowed to ravage the historical sites in and around the old gold-mining shafts, the town has become a corruption-infested haven for criminals.

Hidden in the bushes at the bottom of the stairs is a makeshift stretcher used for carrying a dead zama zama out of the mine. A few weeks ago his body was unceremoniously dumped next to the road.

The now disused Fortuna Mine, right on the edge of Barberton, used to be part of the scenic hiking trail. Tourists and nature lovers could get a feel of what it was like being in a mine by walking the rough kilometre-long Fortuna tunnel.

The tunnel had been hijacked by illegal miners who chip away inside the tunnel to extract gold.

The waste mined out of the old Fortuna Mine and dumped on the slopes of the mountain by the illegal miners.

According to residents living close to the old mine, it is just a matter of time before the tunnel caves in.

At present, mining activities have decreased at Fortuna since the majority of illegal miners moved to Rimers Creek.

ALSO READ: Police link murder to illegal mining

Down the road is a flight of stairs leading up onto a hiking trail. Taxis and other vehicles drop the miners off here.

They walk up the slope to the nearby Fortuna shaft.

The steps once used by tourists to access the popular Fortuna hiking trail. Now it is the access route for the illegal miners to extract gold from the old disused mine.

In the thick bushes next to the bottom stairs lies a makeshift stretcher. It was used to retrieve the body of a miner who was killed a few weeks ago in the illegal quest to find gold.

His body was unceremoniously dumped on the side of a public road.

Last Friday night another badly decomposed body was dumped at Makwonjwah Heights. It was also still on a stretcher and neatly wrapped. The zama zama’s identity was unknown. Next to the body was his meagre belongings, packed in a yellow plastic bag.

Illegal Mining pentalogy: Town in clutches of criminals (Part 2)
Illegal mining pentalogy: Undercover agent reveals security horror (Part 3)
Illegal mining pentalogy: Children mine for illegal gold (Part 4)
Illegal mining pentalogy: Crime syndicates run wild (Part 5)

ALSO READ: Police sting misses illegal miners

April 28, 2017
De Wet Potgieter 2 minutes read
 
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