Zama Zamas using smuggled explosives to blast right under our homes

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.

Of grave concern is the illegal miners’ disregard for safety in their blasting operations, threatening lives of the public.

According to Institute for Security Studies (ISS) 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.

In 2018 City of Joburg officials averted a potential catastrophe after they were alerted by Transnet and Sasol that illegal miners were blasting metres from gas and fuel pipelines under the city.

The illegal miners were convinced to withdraw their operations in that area, but they simply moved to another part of the city, potentially putting infrastructure and lives in danger.

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.

The Citizen 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.

ALSO READ: Zama zamas spread their roots as illegal mining moves across provinces

ISS researchers Richard Chelin and Willem Els have warned in a research paper published last week that trafficking of explosives must be stopped to block organised crime and protect the public from dangerous blasts.

“Targeted and effective police investigations require detectives to determine the source of the illegal explosives,” the study noted.

“Syndicates running the illegal operations obtain explosives in two ways. The first is the black market, which supplies goods smuggled in from neighbouring countries, many of which – like South Africa – have outdated regulatory standards. The second is legal mines and blasting operations.”

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.

“A senior law enforcement officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said South Africa uses around 300 million tons of explosives annually in legal mining operations, road building and construction,” the researchers said.

According to ISS, enforcing laws on the use and control of explosives was a complex matter that requires contending with criminal syndicates that control illegal mining operations.

There is also the commercial explosives supply chain, which is weak and open to exploitation.

The researchers noted that poor controls and tracking along this supply chain made policing and investigations difficult.

The researchers lamented that the work of law enforcement officers was governed by an outdated explosives regulations dating back to 1972 that lacked track and trace provisions.

The most recent regulations for the dormant 2003 Explosives Act, which required that explosives cartridges and detonators be individually marked to enable computerised tracking and tracing, would help police enormously.

But the experts said these regulations were yet to come into operation though they were updated and approved in 2003.

– siphom@citizen.co.za