Barberton Mines claims police assist illegal miners
November 9, 2009
By Wiseman Khuzwayo
Police are colluding with syndicate bosses who are pillaging gold from Barberton Mines in Mpumalanga, according to the junior mining house.
Although the company did not give specifics, Business Report has established that the Mpumalanga police commissioner has removed the task of gold theft investigations from the local detectives to the serious crimes squad, based in the capital, Mbombela.
The company says it is losing more than R3 million worth of gold a month due to illegal mining and security costs have risen to R1m a month. This was revealed by Barberton Mines in its presentation to the portfolio committee on mineral resources on its visit to Barberton in August.
The company said further escalation of illegal mining might result in closure of mining activities in the three mines it operates in Barberton: Consort, Sheba and Fairview.
Roger Baxter, the chief economist at the Chamber of Mines, said the South African precious minerals sector had experienced a drastic rise in illegal mining over the past 10 years, estimated at between R4 billion and R5bn.
The illegal miners came from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, although some South Africans were also involved in these activities.
Barberton Mines said syndicates equipped, armed and financed the illegal miners.
Geologists had originally estimated the lifespan of each mine at 30 years but Casper Strydom, the general manager of Baberton Mines, said this might have to be revised downwards to even less than 10 years if the looting continued.
Mining is the major employer in this Mpumalanga town, which has an estimated 55 percent unemployment, following major retrenchments in the mining sector in 2002. Other major industries in Barberton are forestry and agriculture.
Barberton Mines said it had evidence that members of the SA Police Service were involved in protecting the transportation of gold from its mines to buyers in Johannesburg and Welkom.
It said the illegal miners underground and on the surface had established their own protection groups, which had resulted in a number of deaths underground. These were well armed with an assortment of weapons, including shotguns, AK-47s, pistols and assault rifles.
The company said employees and security guards were often threatened by the illegal miners operating underground.
Last March, 20 illegal miners died in a fire in Consort. But that did not deter others from pursuing the criminal activity.
Two weeks ago, 588 illegal miners surrendered in return for indemnity from prosecution when they were cornered by the mine's security.
Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu told the National Council of Provinces in September that the newly formed Hawks were to take over and investigate illicit mining in its totality and the relevant legislation should be applied without fear or favour.
The man who applies the legislation is Kim Myers, the chief prosecutor at the Barberton magistrate's court. Since September last year he has prosecuted 450 illegal miners, with three acquittals.
But he has his own moral reservations.
"It is not easy to prosecute such cases. It is not like prosecuting ordinary crime. These people are not inherently criminal. It creates a tremendous turmoil in you. These people are jobless. But then I have to consider the economic damage they are doing to our country's economy," he says.
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