Cora Bailey has been observing the rise of illegal mining around the townships near Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, since she began working with injured animals in 1991. As gold prices have climbed, activity in the region’s abandoned mine shafts has intensified significantly. In late September, groups known as zama zamas—a Zulu term translating to “to take a chance”—began excavating gold across the road from Bailey’s charity, Claw (Community Led Animal Welfare).
These miners have frequently tapped into the charity’s two 25,000-litre water tanks, which are periodically filled by the city to support about 100 rescued animals. The city government claims there is still 40,000 tonnes of gold underground in the region.
In mid-October, Bailey noted that for the first time, she had to close the facility’s gates at midday because their water supply was nearly depleted. Although she has attempted to maintain a civil relationship with the miners, she observed that local police have claimed the scale of the illegal operations makes enforcement difficult. Following a brief police operation that cleared the area in October, a smaller group of miners returned, though they reportedly limited their use of the charity’s water to drinking only. According to “We’ve asked them really nicely and haven’t ever refused them water to drink … But, for the first time ever, we closed the gate at 12 [midday], because we literally had about two buckets of water left,” Bailey, In mid-October.
Nationally, law enforcement agencies maintain they are making progress, reporting the arrest of 71 suspected zama zamas in a single week this past October. However, experts estimate the actual number of illegal miners reaches into the tens of thousands. In 2019, researcher Marcena Hunter of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime estimated that approximately one-tenth of South Africa’s gold production, valued at roughly $1 billion, was being exported illegally. Officers sheared away the grass that had partly hidden the zama zamas, about a week later. According to on 19 October, they, They had arrested 71 suspected zama zamas across the country in the previous week. Now raw earth pitted with the holes where illegal miners have been digging, in one section it has completely disappeared.
The dangers associated with these operations have become increasingly evident. In 2025, officials recovered 93 bodies from a single mine shaft in Stilfontein after police prevented food and water supplies from reaching those underground. Beyond the immediate risks, illegal mining is driven by a complex mix of systemic issues, including extreme poverty, high unemployment, political and police corruption, and the failure of formal companies to properly seal inactive shafts. Increasingly, the ground is also caving open. According to while Cele, 33, currently hustles above ground selling mobile phone covers and screen protectors, he, He too would mine if he could get a licence. “On the surface there’s peanuts,” he said. “Underground there’s money.”. While police action appears ineffective, there is no end in sight for the drivers of illegal mining.
South Africa’s identity remains deeply intertwined with its mining heritage. Gold was discovered on a local farm in 1884, triggering a rush that built Johannesburg. While production peaked in the 1970s and the country held the title of the world’s top producer for over a century until 2007, current operations are forced to go deeper, driving up costs. Professor Morris Viljoen of the University of the Witwatersrand estimated in 2009 that the local reef had yielded more than one-third of all gold mined globally. Which shut at the turn of the century, having once lent its name to an Elton John song, claw is housed in the old offices of the Durban Deep mine. The skyline south of Johannesburg is punctuated by the pale yellow ridges of mine dumps. The road was once the main artery linking the city’s central business district to the south-eastern suburbs.
Despite these remnants, official figures highlight a massive maintenance failure. Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe confirmed in a parliamentary response that there are currently 6,100 derelict or ownerless mines and 1,170 hazardous mine openings across the country. These voids have been systematically occupied by zama zamas, the majority of whom are estimated to be foreign nationals from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho.
Local politicians, particularly those campaigning for elections on November 4, have frequently blamed these miners for the increasing number of sinkholes across the landscape. Johannesburg council member Kenny Kunene recently cited zama zamas as the cause for major infrastructure damage, including the total collapse of a section of Wemmer Pan Road. However, many experts argue that the miners are being used as scapegoats.
Anthropologist Rosalind Morris of Columbia University points out that formal industrial mining—which removes hundreds of millions of gallons of water daily—is the primary driver of soil instability and sinkhole formation. While intense illegal mining does contribute to localized structural collapses, attributing the entire phenomenon to zama zamas is described by experts as misleading. Similarly, while these miners are often blamed for violent conflicts, researcher David van Wyk of the Bench Marks Foundation asserts that the actual power lies with heavily armed criminal gangs who control access, exploit cheap labor, and rarely venture underground themselves.
In townships like Khutsong, located 50 miles west of Johannesburg, the local economy remains reliant on these activities. Vusi Cele, a local advocate, noted that many residents, including himself, would seek mining licenses if they could, stating that surface-level opportunities are insufficient compared to the wealth potentially found underground. According to in Khutsong, about 50 miles (80km) west of Johannesburg, illegal miners, local and foreign, kept the township afloat,, Vusi Cele, the youth secretary for the local branch of Mining Affected Communities United in Acti.
