Download PDFDuring Khanya’s opening study group session for 2025, caregivers, activist community health workers and artists participating in the session debated whether they agreed with government officials saying they would ‘smoke them’ out. The smoking out referred to the zama zama miners who work in old, abandoned mines for scraps of gold that, in all probability, find its way into the big bourgeoisie hands. Zama zama is a Nguni term referring to the act of taking chances in the hopes of finding good results.
The study group session, which was held on 15 February 2025 in Newtown, Johannesburg, combined young and old, for the debate.
Most of the participants in the debate disagreed with the motion to smoke the miners out, citing various humanist reasons including desperation for livelihoods and unemployment.
Thabiso Mabunda, who is a coordinator at Sakha Kids sympathised with the zama zama style miners, saying, “The idea of smoking them out can cause a huge problem on [the] innocent lives that are forced to work in the mines, also because there are also women and children inside the mine.”
Some participants, although not for the motion, seemed to stand in the middle, suggesting an intervention policy. One such commentator was Noxolo Mthabela who said, “I said I disagree with the government’s decision because nobody, not even the president of the country has the right to terminate or kill other people.” Mthabela said it did not make a difference whether it is the locals trapped there or even if it is migrants.
She added, “I feel that they should rather be left alone to figure themselves out rather than to hurt them.” With this, she revealed a no intervention position.
Some strong voices were agreeing with the motion. “They are causing damage to property and money will have to be spent to fix or rebuild structures that will be damaged from the digging. The money could have been used to create jobs and feed the poor through local NGOs and soup kitchens,” said Faith Brown from PUSH, seeing an impending cost due to the mining activities by the zama zamas.
“I don’t agree with the method that used to smoke out the illegal miners, because there may be casualties on both ends,” observed Thokozile Masilela, before adding that she agreed that they have to be removed from the underground mines “because it’s not safe and healthy for them and the community is being affected by their actions, we don’t know how deep the underground goes.”
Many more participants did not support the idea and instead criticised the government for its approach, citing human rights violations linked to smoking them out.
Zanele Nomdikinye, a Community Health activist from Orange Farm noted that, “Illegal mining is a complex issue that requires a [good] approach and should be dealt with in the right way. The constitution of our country states that everyone has the right to basic food,” disagreeing with the way the issue has been handled.
For Mzwakhe Ntlakane of the Page to Stage, a theatre and arts group, the sticking issue was the fact that some of the people who died underground were underaged, suggesting forced labour, which he alleged was done by the so-called kingpins.
In an astounding moment, a young girl aged about 14, observed that big businesspeople were the ones mainly benefitting from the zama zama efforts, she also identified politicians as big beneficiaries.
Although the deciding vote disagreed with the motion, there was a sizeable group which agreed with the motion. The debate was put aside pending study group sessions to delve deeper into questions of why zama zama mining even happens, the biggest beneficiaries of that economy, and the role of the state. The question will be revisited months later at the annual Khanya Winter School to be held in June 2025.
This article is an amalgam of various submissions by FAJs around Gauteng. The various articles were submitted on 15 February 2025. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
