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Miners in a cave.
A new study by the Benchmarks Foundation has revealed that legitimate mining companies in South Africa are connected to syndicates that buy gold from illegal miners, known as Zama Zamas, and funnel it into the formal economy.
The illegal operations also involve scrap metal dealers, security companies, and law enforcement officers.
Lead researcher David van Wyk says, “When we speak to illegal miners, they tell us that very often, when a mine closes and shuts down, the very people who retrench workers at that mine come back and purchase the gold, and the other minerals that people extract.”
He added, “Some of these mines have diamonds in them. Stilfontein was the Stilfontein Gold and Diamond mining company in the 1940s. Many of the Zama Zamas were found to have diamonds by the police when they came up—they sold them back to the former owners.”
The study asserted that these findings highlight the complex network of illegal mining activities and their ties to formal mining operations in South Africa.
PODCAST | Interview with David van Wyk on The Morning Brief:
