Call for a compassionate solution to the Zama Zama problem
23 August 2023
There is something noxious and odious about the way the Zama Zama issue is being addressed. The anger that is being stirred up by all with an interest in the issue - civil servants, the police, the communities being affected and politicians - has a danger of conflagrating into a Xenophobic hysteria that could lead to the loss of many lives.
When the MMC for Public Safety in the Johannesburg Metro, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, says “that for us is actually a plus to say we are going to put tear gas there and bury them inside, just close it down, we must smoke them out because we can’t find them underground,” we must know that we have lost all our senses.
Is he seriously advocating extermination of a section of the population on the basis of the work they do? Is there no compassion for these desperate people who need to work in the bowels of the earth under the most inhuman conditions to sustain themselves and their impoverished families?
This loose talk of gassing people to death and burying people, especially when uttered by a civil servant could create the conditions that could result in a massacre. We are a traumatised society, a fertile ground for finding a victim to heap our blame on. But when populist politicians, like Julius Malema, stoke the embers of blame on these hapless victims, we have a powder keg in the making.
In a speech on July 30th, Malema accused the Zama Zamas of committing “rape against young women and gogos” and of being “criminals”. He advocated a “militant approach” against them and shooting to kill if they were encountered with guns. He said the police needed to use all the resources which they possessed to deal with the criminals. He also addressed the issue of them being foreigners, mainly illegal migrants from Lesotho.
Malema’s conflation blaming the Zama Zamas for all of society’s ills lays the foundations of the perfect libel which prepares the ground for an inevitable settling of scores and retribution. The linkage of Zama Zamas being criminals with them being foreigners, who deprive South African citizens of jobs and of being gainfully employed, and who commit heinous crimes like rape, is the perfect mix that could justify vigilante riots.
The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele added his own strident comments while speaking to the residents of Riverlea on August 4th, he threatened that the police would go down and “flush them out of their holes”. A day later he threatened that if the Zama Zamas did not come out, “we’ll bury them alive”.
All this inflammatory talk and hubris reduces the humanity of the “foreigner” and of the Zama Zamas because it justifies their extermination and removes from them even the basic right to life!
Lest I be misunderstood, I don’t wish to obfuscate or trivialize the criminal activities of the Zama Zamas and the detrimental effects of their activities on the proximate communities. I merely wish to redirect the conversation away from “scapegoatism” or appending blame on the most vulnerable elements in the criminal chain.
Bheki Cele alluded to the those who are the real criminal kingpins, the “top guys” live in Sandton and Dubai while the middlemen live in homes which look ordinary from outside but are filled with expensive imported furniture, They drive Lamborghinis and have net worths in excess of R5 million Rand. To appease the anger of the local communities’ police are making mass arrests of the Zama Zamas at the bottom of the pyramid, while their handlers and bosses escape scrutiny, because they are more mobile, wealthy and live in upmarket suburbs in homes not easily discernible.
To better address the problems, there needs to be an understanding of the conditions which gave rise to the Zama Zama phenomenon. The mining industry in its heydays used to employ nearly a million people and due to mines reaching the end of their life cycles and lack of investment in opening up new mines, many hundreds of thousands of miners have lost their jobs. Many of these miners were “migrants”, employed on legal contracts. They are familiar with underground conditions and find themselves without work and no way of feeding their families.
The Department of Mineral Resources is not blameless either, as they have been lax and careless in applying the rules governing the closure of mines. The environmental degradation in all the former mining areas is a blight and legacy for current and future generations. The sinkholes, underground fires, fine radioactive sand that causes breathing illnesses in surrounding communities, and the acid mine water are just a few of these legacy issues that continue to plague us. The Minister, Gwede Mantashe and his department have thus far got off scot-free and they need to be held to account to properly close disused mines and shafts in accordance with the mining charter.
While unemployment levels are as high as they are people rely on the informal sector for sustenance. The activities of the Zama Zamas, like those of the unlicensed alluvial miners should perhaps be recognised as being part of the informal economy, with controls in place to ensure that certain safety standards are observed.
Another option could be a comprehensive plan to legitimise small scale mining as a legal activity subscribing to all the good labour practices and other laws applicable to all other businesses including the paying of taxes and VAT. Legalization could also lead to integration of Zama Zamas and their families into local communities, and there with the injection of substantial funds which could uplift the whole community.
To begin to address the issue we need the cooperation of multiple government sectors, in particular the Departments of Social Welfare, the Interior, the local authorities, the Departments of Small business and entrepreneurship and of Trade and Industry.
I am merely calling for a compassionate solution, whereby these people can emerge from their underground existence and activities and emerge into the daylight to be integrated rather than alienated into the broader society.
Ben Levitas
