North West farmers call for action against illegal mining

Farming communities in the North West say more needs to be done to fight illegal mining activities.

In the State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the army to hotspots to support police.

A local farmer who has opted to remain anonymous for fear of intimidation says the line between legitimate and illegitimate mining has become blurred.

“It’s a regular thing to hear at night, gunshots, also in our area, as they call it, hot chrome. So this truck has been hijacked with chrome. It’s being dumped in our area. The chrome lies around for quite a while, and when they see everything settles, they come back and pick it up. This is not a random guy using just his bakkie and something. These are people who know how to do it and where to take and where to sell it, of course. Because why would you mine all these things if you don’t have an offset for it?” 

Agri North West’s Naude Pienaar says the impact of illegal mining on farming could be irreversible.

“We are very concerned about the illegal and uncontrolled mining taking place in our province. This includes the large number of illegal and non-compliant chrome wash plants. These activities are destroying natural vegetation. They are polluting and misusing our scarce water resources. Their trucks are destroying our roads. Most are not employing local labour, but it does from the activities are settling on trees and crops, killing the plants and making the spraying of herbicides and nutrients ineffective.”