Quote: “Every week, the police come to chase the illegal miners away. We hear gunshots and fighting.”
Residents of a mining village near Carltonville are pleading for government’s intevention to rid their area of illegal miners who seized an abandoned school seven years ago and turned it into no go zone.
Locals in ,village said their area has turned into a battle field of gun violence after zama zamas turned the local Ekuphakameni school into an illegal mining camp. The school which was closed in 2018 due to low pupil numbers has been converted into a hostel where heavily armed zama zamas rule the roost.
According residents, who complained bitterly about the gun violence, the classrooms of the school have become living quarters and places where illicit gold is processed.
No one is allowed to enter the abandoned school without permission from the occupiers, said one resident who asked not to be named.
“If you come in peace, you must drive in with your hazard lights on,” the resident said. “If you come in with your lights on, they think you are coming to cause trouble, and that can lead to violence.”
Another resident the zama-zamas have been clashing with police for years since they took over the school but authorities have failed to drive them out.
“Every week, the police come to chase the illegal miners away. We hear gunshots and fighting. They try to push them out, and the miners fight back,” he said.
At the weekend, residents of Sporong informal settlement who had fled their homes to a community hall in Randfontein due to illegal mining violence were returned to their homes with heightened police patrols.
At Ekuphakameni, however, residents said they feared their children would be caught in the crossfire of gun violence if nothing was done to remove the illegal miners. Their closed primary school, which the illegal miners have taken over, is one of many dozens of abandoned government properties.
According to residents, inside the school, there are taverns, shops and other types of businesses. On entering the school, visitors are confronted by men demanding to know why they have come onto what they consider their territory. Classrooms have been converted into living spaces, furnished like proper homes.
The principal’s office now serves alcohol and livestock including cattle, pigs, and horses graze from what were once school playgrounds.
Residents described the school as a no-go zone unless one has a relationship with the zama zamas occupying the premises.
“This is no longer a school,” said an illegal miner.
“This is our home now. We live here, we work here, and we are not leaving.”
Although police are said to conduct frequent raids on the school, this has not been effective in ridding the area of the zama zamas.
A former pupil who asked not to be named described how quickly the takeover of the school unfolded.
“Two months after we were moved to Wedela Primary School, the zamazamas were already here. It didn’t even take long before the miners invaded and made this place their home,” he said
The former pupil said children from the area now travel long distances to attend schools in Wedela, about 15km from their homes.
“Wedela is very far from where we stay. We use a government bus every day just to get to school,” he said.
Meanwhile in Randfontein, Sporong residents were escourted back to their homes at the weekend where police visibility has been heightened to ensure their safety.
One of the residents, Elsie Mokobane, said police visibility in the area was high, with a mobile police station and two Nyala vehicles deployed.
“The officers are patrolling the area day and night. There are several police vans here and a minibus full of Amapanyaza,” she said.
“We feel safe, although we are still traumatised by what happened.” – Additional Reporting by Jeanette Chabalala
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