The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) commends the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the municipal police services for the successful joint operation that resulted in the arrest of 217 individuals allegedly involved in illegal mining.
This operation demonstrates that when the state has the political will, adequate coordination and sufficient resources, it can effectively confront criminal networks that have for years terrorised mining communities, endangered workers, damaged infrastructure and undermined the rule of law.
The reported involvement of a significant number of undocumented foreign nationals and very young people is deeply concerning. It exposes not only weaknesses in border and immigration management but also the devastating unemployment, poverty and social collapse confronting young people throughout Southern Africa.
SAFTU has consistently rejected the accusation by xenophobic organisations that organised labour remains silent when communities are terrorised by illegal mining syndicates. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have repeatedly called for decisive action against illegal mining, organised crime, corruption and those who profit from these criminal operations. Criminality must be confronted irrespective of the nationality of those involved.
At the same time, we reject the attempts by xenophobic formations to exploit every criminal incident to spread Afrophobia and divide the working class. Crime has no nationality. Millions of migrant workers living in South Africa are law-abiding workers whose labour has built this country’s mines, farms, factories and homes. They should never be scapegoated for crimes committed by organised criminal syndicates.
The illegal mining crisis did not emerge in a vacuum. It is rooted in decades of reckless mine closures, the abandonment of more than 6,000 unsealed mine shafts, deindustrialisation, mass retrenchments, poverty, unemployment, corruption and the failure of both the state and mining houses to rehabilitate abandoned mines and mining communities.
Most of those who descend kilometres underground are not the masterminds of this criminal economy. They are often desperate former mineworkers from South Africa and neighbouring countries who possess mining skills but have been discarded by the formal mining industry. Others are unemployed young people lured by criminal recruiters with promises of income where no decent work exists. They risk death every day for a fraction of the wealth they produce.
The real beneficiaries sit far above ground. They are the runners and recruiters who prey on desperate workers, the financiers who bankroll illegal operations, the transporters, the buyers, the smugglers who move illicit minerals across borders, the criminal syndicates that dominate the illicit minerals trade, and those within the formal value chain who knowingly purchase or facilitate the laundering of illegally mined minerals.
Such sophisticated operations cannot flourish without corruption and collusion by dishonest officials, including elements within law enforcement, border management and other state institutions, as well as individuals linked to legitimate mining and refining networks. These are the kingpins who accumulate enormous profits while workers risk their lives underground and communities are left to live under constant fear.
SAFTU therefore calls on the SAPS to ensure that this operation does not end with the arrest of those found underground. The investigations must relentlessly pursue those who finance, recruit, arm, transport and profit from illegal mining, regardless of their wealth, position or political connections.
We further call on the SAPS to use this operation to advance investigations into the horrific crimes that have traumatised mining communities over the years, including the gang rape of young women near Krugersdorp, the reign of terror inflicted on the residents of Kagiso and surrounding communities, the massacres in informal settlements and shebeens, robberies, murders and other violent crimes associated with illegal mining syndicates. If any of those arrested are linked to these atrocities, they must face the full might of the law.
SAFTU calls on government to intensify coordinated operations against illegal mining syndicates, strengthen border management in a manner that respects constitutional rights and human dignity, accelerate the sealing and rehabilitation of abandoned mine shafts, and create decent jobs through industrialisation so that no young person is driven into dangerous criminal economies by hunger and despair.
South Africa can defeat illegal mining without abandoning its constitutional values. We do not have to choose between enforcing the law and defending human dignity. A democratic state must do both.
SAFTU will continue to support firm action against organised crime while opposing every attempt to divide workers through xenophobia, racism or ethnic chauvinism. Our struggle remains against poverty, unemployment, inequality, corruption and the criminal networks that exploit human desperation for profit.
For media inquiries, contact the National Spokesperson at:
Newton Masuku newtonm@saftu.org.za
0661682157
Media Officer: Asive Dyani 0719019564
