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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SAFRICA ILLEGAL MINERS (TV/R)
HEADLINE: South Africa Communities Fed Up With Presence of Illegal Miners
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, 10/4/23 at 10:57 am
BYLINE: Jan Bornman
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Johannesburg, South Africa
VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim
PRODUCER: Jan Bornman
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, wpm
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB__ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 3:15
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
((INTRO))
Founded in 1886 following the discovery of gold, Johannesburg, South Africa, eventually became the biggest gold producer throughout the 20th century, thanks to its Witwatersrand Basin goldfields. But many of the old gold mines have closed, replaced by small-scale illegal miners and an array of social problems. Jan Bornman reports.
((NARRATOR))
George Harrison Park, west of Johannesburg, was the site where the park's namesake first found gold in 1886, a discovery that fueled the rise of South Africa's largest city. But the heritage site has become unsafe in recent years as illegal miners, colloquially known as "zama zamas," have decided to try their luck in the abandoned mine shafts.
Residents of the nearby Riverlea community are living in fear as members of rival zama zama gangs, many of them immigrants from neighboring countries, fight over the old mines.
[[For radio: One woman, who requested anonymity out of concern about her safety, spoke about the fear residents feel when encountering the gangs.]]
((Anonymous, Riverlea Resident (female, English))
“It's mostly moving around in your own community, living in fear, especially when we see such large groups of people walking. And when they walk we’ll either turn around because we scared and we are woman, we've got families, or we would stand a distance and watch them cross before we can walk because we don't want to walk in between them. They are also that we're not sure if they violent because we don't engage with them.”
((NARRATOR))
Riverlea residents recently staged a protest over the turf wars, calling for more visible policing and more resources to improve security in the low-income community.
[[For radio: Charles van der Merwe is a resident of Riverlea and a member of the Riverlea Mining Forum, a community-based organization focused on mining-related issues. ]]
((Charles van der Merwe, Riverlea Mining Forum Member)) (English))
“We are not feeling actually much safer. There are tensions but I can say on a scale 10 we are now at eight (10 being the most tense) // We are caught in between because it's in our territory. It's in our personal, personal personal category of our presence. Because you must understand people are going to work in the morning. They don't choose to fight the fighting happens anytime.”
((NARRATOR))
South African Minister of Police Bheki Cele has vowed to clamp down against the zama zamas and illegal mining activity in the area. While residents welcome the sentiment and increased police presence in recent weeks, some still live in fear.
And the turf wars are not just confined to Riverlea. Illegal mining syndicates have cropped up all across Johannesburg’s East and West Rand.
Many zama zamas are just people trying to eke out a living in a country struggling with a record 33 percent unemployment rate, an ongoing electricity crisis and rising costs. But violent criminals have also forced their way into the illicit gold trade.
There are regular reports of gun battles between rival syndicates, with bodies often dumped next to main roads. There was a renewed focus on the violence in Riverlea after the bodies of five zama zamas were discovered in August.
[[Radio: David van Wyk is the lead researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, a South Africa-based NGO that conducts research and advocacy work around communities affected by mining in Africa.
((David van Wyk, Benchmarks Foundation)) (English)) ((Zoom))
“There is a war between syndicates for the control over the production of gold from that particular area. So that has then led to conflict where zama zamas have started shooting at each other to control the pits that are around Riverlea, and they are some 26, or 27 pits from the old crown mines. And so the residents are concerned because their property values are collapsing as a result of the conflict around them. And they can get hit by stray bullets.”
((NARRATOR))
A police spokesperson said Operation Shanela, an initiative targeting high-density and crime hotspots throughout the country, has seen more than 1,200 suspected illegal miners arrested since April.
The spokesperson said illegal miners and other criminals would continue to feel the full might of the law. ((Jan Bornman, VOA News, Johannesburg))
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