Economist urges government to recognise artisanal miners

An economist working with mining communities, Duma Gqubule, has accused the government of being biased in its support for Palestinians while dehumanising artisanal miners.

He says the deaths of more than 70 illegal miners could have been avoided had the government acted more swiftly in its retrieval operations.

Law enforcement officials have confirmed that they have completed the retrieval efforts and that no individuals remain trapped underground at the abandoned mine at Stilfontein in the North West.

Gqubule says illegal mining will never be addressed unless the government recognises artisanal mining.

“How can you take a case to the ICJ for genocide correctly but now you’re behaving in the same way that the Israeli’s behave. They dehumanise the Palestinians, we are dehumanising the artisanal miners. And the sad thing I have to say is that there is no security solution to this issue. I have been working on mining issues for about 15 years and from day one I have worked with MACUA in terms of issues relating to transformation of the mining industry. And I’ve just got to say, you will never eradicate it. We have to recognise in formal mining.”

Stilfontein Mine | Duma Gqubule on the death toll of illegal miners