LESOTHO ILLEGAL MINER WATCHES AS BROTHER FALLS TO HIS DEATH

PIGG’S PEAK – A Lesotho illegal miner fell to his death while his brother watched helplessly, when they were mining gold illicitly on Friday night in Pigg’s Peak.

The male, aged 23, was said to have been part of a group of people who were illegally mining at the old Pigg’s Peak Mine. According to a community member, as the illegal miners, popularly known as zama zamas, were sifting through the soil they had excavated to collect the gold particles, the soil they had dug sank into the hole. Noteworthy is that illegal gold mining is carried out in an open-pit setup. This means that some of the miners do not go down a mine tunnel as the gold particles are available on the surface. The old Pigg’s Peak mine is under the jurisdiction of Hhelehhele Umphakatsi and is situated about five kilometres from the Lomati Mine, which is located at the foot of Lufafa Mountain, along the Mlumati River.

Alive

Meanwhile, an insider related that the deceased fell into the hole with the soil and his counterparts, who included his relative, used a rope to pull him out of the hole. The sources claimed that the deceased was still alive when he was pulled out of the hole; however, he had sustained severe injuries. The source said despite that the group of men were engaged in illegal activity, they contacted the police to report the incident as they rushed to Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital, where the 23-year-old was certified dead. Another community member expressed concern over the zama zama gang, as it was dominated by foreigners. The community member said this meant that there was a high possibility of gang members being illegally armed as they were stealing the precious mineral. “The safety of the community is under threat and it can also degenerate the moral fibre of our society. It is really troubling,” the sources said.  

Also, the Mine Manager at Lomati Mine, Maqhawe Nxumalo, said illegal mining had negative repercussions to their entity, as they were part of the Hhelehhele community. Nxumalo said it was for this reason that they were an active stakeholder in any engagements and interventions against illegal mining. He also said any security solutions Lomati Mine put in place were also at the disposal of State law enforcement agencies, who were ultimately responsible for law, order, safety and security in the country. Meanwhile, the demise of the Lesotho national comes against the backdrop of a number of syndicates being arrested by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) for illegal mining. There have been concerns that criminals from neighbouring South Africa (SA) were responsible for allegedly stealing natural resources in the country and they were suspected to be staying in some of the townships in Pigg’s Peak.

Previous concerns have also centred on some SA nationals being responsible for the theft of a precious stone known as Green Chert. The rock is mainly used in the construction industry for aesthetics. It is worth noting that when launching the second phase of the geoscientific mapping and characterisation of the landscape of the Kingdom of Eswatini in November last year, Dr Taufeeq Dhansay from the Ministry of Minerals and Energy in SA said the study would also assist identify any areas, where illegal mining was taking place and or the natural resources were tampered with. The research and data collection, he said, extended to 2.5 kilometres below the earth’s surface. This publication has reported that Eswatini was losing millions of Emalangeni to thieves who were stealing gold at the old Pigg’s Peak Mine. It was also reported that illegal miners were now digging for gold in more places than had been previously known and these areas were reportedly surrounding the old Pigg’s Peak Mine, as well as many other parts of northern Hhohho.

The mining of gold illegally is said to be lucrative as for a gramme, zama zama members sell it for about E500. An expose by Eswatini News revealed that some of the zama zamas worked in groups and that they were able to make between E20 000 to over E100 000 from the gold. The gold was reportedly being sold to buyers locally, who then transport it to neighbouring SA, before it goes to other countries. In 2019, Etienne Sales, the General Manager of Peak Timbers, revealed that thieves were stealing gold from the mine and that the situation was getting worse. At the time, he was quoted calling for assistance, saying the country was losing revenue to the criminals who were said to be stealing the gold from the old mine. He asked that action should be taken to protect the mine.

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