South African Police Are Fighting Back Finally
South Africa for many years now has had a problem of illegal mining so much so they have a special name for these criminals calling them Zama Zama's. They cause so many problems as they do not abide by health and safety regulations. These illegal miners are a law unto themselves creating sinkholes and damaging the foundations of buildings in central Johannesburg.
A few weeks back the police and army raided an abandoned mine shaft staying on the surface ad arresting those Zama Zama's exiting the shaft. They have arrested over 400 already, but there are more than 4500 still underground.
The illegal miners know that there is law enforcement on the surface waiting to arrest them and why they are trying to sit this out. The last message sent up was they had run out of water and food and would like some sent down to them. The SA Government has made it clear that this is not going to happen and they need to return to the surface. This is no rescue situation because all they have to do is return to the surface on their own accord.
The problem is the danger of sending anyone down as the tunnels and shafts are unstable due to their work practice and the last thing anyone needs is a cave in. Last year ere was a methane gas explosion that killed x amount of illegal miners and those bodies wee not retrieved due to the danger levels.
The government stance is to smoke them out by providing no aid even if it means they starve to death. This may sound harsh, but these are criminals who are made up of a majority of foreign nationals.
This from wat I understand is the first right decision this government has made in a long time and they need to draw a line in the sand. The Zama Zama's have been known to commit other types of crime in the areas they stay, but have been hard to find due to spending most of the time underground.
Most of them are well armed with AK 47's and have had shootouts with police in the past. Somebody high up has to be buying their ill gotten gains and why this has been going on for many years with no real solution. Finally we have anew police minister who is cleaning up the mess others before him have ignored which is sending a clear message to those that this is not going to be tolerated.
I am sure the longer this stand off continues we will get calls from the humanitarian aid groups saying this should be more of a rescue mission and not a legal stand off. No one is gong down to help them and that should be obvious to those down below leaving them with 2 choices. Return to the surface and face the music or stay down below and die.
My first thought when they asked for food and water is they were holding out to try and buy time hoping they will leave them alone. The other thought was they are trying to find another escape route out and is more about dodging the law. Thankfully the police and army are standing firm and not budging with no negotiations taking place.
