Daily Sun (June 19 2014) - ILLEGAL miners lose their lives all the time. But they won't give up!
THEIR FAMILIES WOULD STARVE IF THEY DIDN'T BATTLE THE DANGERS UNDERGROUND.
These pictures, taken by zama zamas themselves, are a first. They show a typical day in their lives.
For zama zamas there's no question of giving in to repeated efforts by cops, mining officials and owners to chase them away. This year, 20 of them were killed in the Magogo Durban Deep mine near Roodepoort, west of Joburg. But they keep returning to the abandoned mine, which they call Thapong.
Thabang Motloung (28) of Lesotho is typical of many zama zamas.
Poverty and family demands drove him to Joburg to find a job - and this was the best he could find.
"I support my mum, dad and three siblings at school.
"Being the only breadwinner means I must put my life at risk every day," he said.
Another miner, from Braamfischer, said: "I'm scared. People die underground, but I have a wife and three kids to feed." Thabang said: "We have to walk and crawl for hours before we can dig for gold, sometimes climbing over rocks as big as a house."
Thabang is 28, and he's done this dangerous work for 11 years.
Many of his comrades consult sangomas back home to protect themselves underground, he said.
Although the work is hard and dangerous, it pays better than most other jobs.
"I send my family money every month. Even in a bad month I send something. Conditions are tough. We sleep standing or use rocks as pillows," he said. More than 100 zama zamas work in the mine.
"We have different backgrounds and speak different languages, but we live as a community."
They know rocks around them may cave in at any moment, but they risk danger for their families.
A piece of gold as small as a bottle cap can sell for R20 000.
"We take food to last us for up to six days at a time. In a good month, I make up to R30 000," said Thabang.
They eat mostly bread, beans, chicken and pap. Fumes from their paraffin stoves make the stuffy and hot conditions worse. Another worker shrugs off the dangers, saying: "By God's grace we're still alive."
Joburg Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said they know illegal mining is still going on even though they sealed some shafts. He warned zama zamas: "It's not worth dying for."
Minerals and Resources spokesman Mahlodi Muafhe said his department realised zama zamas depended on this work to survive but said it wasn't worth the risk.
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