Crime

PIGG’S PEAK – The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has intensified its high-tactical operation against illegal mining by diving deep into known mining hotspots.

The REPS has launched a high-tactical operation targeting illegal mining activities in northern Hhohho, stepping up efforts to protect national resources and curb criminal activity.

According to the police, the operation is carried out in line with the service’s operational mantra, ‘Umbutfo Wembube ume-zica kuhliphita tigungu tebucala nekuvikela tingoti temgwaco kute kundlodlobale kuphepha kwesive,’ emphasising proactive crime prevention and the safeguarding of the public.

The exercise is conducted with support from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU), with officers currently deployed in affected areas.

Members of communities around the operational sites have been urged to stay clear of the scene for their own safety, as the exercise involves tactical police activities.

The police said the operation is expected to continue over several days and that more details will be communicated as events unfold.

REPS has also appealed to members of the public who might have information about illegal mining operations in the region to contact them on their emergency lines 999, 9999 or 112.

Illegal mining has become a growing concern in Eswatini, mirroring trends in the wider Southern African region, where artisanal miners, often referred to as zama zamas - operate in abandoned or disused mining areas.

Officials say the expanded operation comes after mounting evidence that illegal mining, often carried out by informal artisanal miners, has cost the country millions of Emalangeni in lost revenue, damaged land and illicit trade.

The latest phase of the crackdown builds on initial actions that saw police deploying OSSU officers in mining areas, where miners have been working without licences or oversight.

In earlier phases, police seized items suspected of being linked to illegal mining. One such case reported by involved a red Mazda Demio abandoned by suspected illegal miners near Pigg’s Peak. Inside the vehicle, officers found a sack containing suspected gold stones and mining implements, including gloves, a hammer, water boots and protective clothing.

The High Court subsequently placed the vehicle under a Preservation Order under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) as investigations continued.

Police say acts like these are not isolated. The seizure highlighted how illegal miners operate with makeshift tools, abandon equipment quickly and often work in remote or dangerous locations.

The economic stakes are high and economists have warned that illegal miners, often called zama zamas, may have extracted between E700 million and E1 billion worth of hidden gold from beneath Eswatini’s soil — revenue that could otherwise support public services, infrastructure and economic development.

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Zama zamas flee as cops shatter pre-dawn silence

PIGG’S PEAK – Illegal miners, known as zama zamas, had to run for cover in Pigg’s Peak yesterday as the pre-dawn silence was shattered at 5am.

Heavily armed police, some wearing balaclavas, descended on Malanda and Mangwaneni, raiding illegal operations and seizing mining equipment.

The Pigg’s Peak Gold Mine has recently become a hive of activity for illegal mining. Last year, this publication reported on two separate incidents where zama zamas died inside the mine, prompting police to warn the public to stay away from the site. Illegal mining is not unique to Eswatini. One of the most notorious sites is South Africa’s Stilfontein Mine, where a two-kilometre shaft has previously trapped illegal miners underground.

Yesterday’s raid in northern Hhohho targeted Malanda and Mangwaneni in an effort to curb ongoing illegal operations. One zama zama, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that heavily armed police, including CID and OSSU officers, arrived in four groups at around 5am.

 “I managed to hide so they wouldn’t find me,” he said. He explained that approximately four police vans left the scene fully loaded with suspects and equipment. He alleged that officers conducted searches inside houses and, in instances where they found nothing, they swept the area and promised to return.

The source noted that the police did not assault anyone during the raid. “If the soldiers had been there, as usually happens during these raids, many people would have been severely assaulted,” he alleged.

He suggested the operation was triggered by rumours that the mine is set to be reopened by a businessman who has already begun installing machinery. He added that those who facilitate the illegal mining were warned on Sunday to remove their equipment, as the new owner would seize anything left inside.

“We had a special machine in the shafts which uses a generator for crushing stone,” the zama zama said.

He added that a meeting between miners and the police was scheduled for Tuesday at a Malanda hall, but the police reportedly did not show up. He speculated that the police avoided the meeting to prevent tipping off the miners before the dawn raid.

*Full article available on Pressreader*

Some of the alleged zama zamas with their employees purifying the gold from the soil at a stream near Malanda before their equipment was seized by the police during yesterday operation. (Pics:Mnelisi Dlamini)

One of the working stations of the zama zamas were the gold is purified from the soil after being fetched at the Pigg's Peak Old Mine.