[imagesource:here]

Illegal mining in South Africa is a lucrative business.

It’s also a business that has increasingly come under the spotlight in recent years, with foreign nationals often the focus of angry communities.

Zama zamas, as they are known, were targeted in Krugersdorp last month in the wake of the horrific gang rape which occurred while a music video was being shot.

These individuals on the ground and in the mines are actually part of something much larger, reports TimesLIVE, with organised crime gangs calling the shots:

…tens of millions of rand is spent daily on providing illegal miners with anything and everything they need from tools, explosives and weapons to KFC chicken buckets, cans of bully beef and baked beans, sex workers and security guards as well as corrupt police officers for protection.

The miners can make as much as R40 000 a month but if they want creature comforts, their bottom line is going to take a hit.

A single KFC bucket, bought above ground for somewhere in the region of R280, can fetch R10 000 and a KFC Streetwise Two meal a solid R1 000.

Should you want the company of a sex worker, zama zamas may pay up to R20 000 for one hour.

Transactions are carried out via middlemen with the approval of the crime bosses at the top of the food chain:

A police officer from the anti-illegal mining investigations task team in the North West threw out a few more figures:

He said penlight batteries for head torches cost roughly R200, while replacing a torch could cost a R1,000.

“Food and water are definitely the most expensive, especially things like bread. A loaf costs roughly R1,000, depending on how fresh it is.

“A one-litre container of milk costs R700, a one litre Coke R500 and a can of Dragon energy drink R100.”

A single tin of baked beans can go for R100. Condolences to anybody stuck in a poorly ventilated mine shaft with a zama zama on a bean-eating spree.

Inflation has hit hard – in 2017, illegal miners were paying closer to R150 for a loaf of bread.

TimesLIVE has published a series of excellent reports today looking at the lucrative and illegal underground economy and who controls it.

They are well worth a read if you are a subscriber. If not, reporter Aron Hyman has shared snippets which tell part of the story:

THREAD: The following tweets are for the purposes of stories that will appear on @TimesLIVE. The videos and images depicted are deemed to be in the public interest. This is the story of SA’s illegal mining gangs and how the Terene factions will affect Lesotho’s elections in Oct. pic.twitter.com/eyDTVJqjQz

— Aron Hyman (@aron_hyman) September 8, 2022

[sources:timeslive&timeslive]