Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has described illegal mining in South Africa as a war being waged against the country. He reaffirmed the State’s zero-tolerance stance on this criminal activity, which has caused countless fatalities and drained billions of rands from the economy.

“Our view on illegal mining has not changed. We remain convinced that illegal mining is not a mining activity, but a criminal activity, and it is a war on the economy. There can be no two ways about it. It is criminals attacking the economy,” he said during a briefing, in Pretoria, on January 23.

These comments come after the State was strongly criticised for its handling of the occupation of the Stilfontein underground gold mine, in the North West, by hundreds of illegal miners.

Law enforcement carried out a months-long siege of the mine, blocking the supply of food, water and other supplies to the illegal miners in an effort to force them to exit the mine and face arrest. This resulted in the deaths of 78 illegal miners after they stubbornly refused to surface.

A State-sponsored rescue operation carried out a week ago saw 246 survivors retrieved from the deep mine, many of whom were emaciated and weak from hunger.

“If you go to a dangerous place – a mine that is neglected – and stay there for three months and you starve yourself to death, how does that become the responsibility of the State?” Mantashe asserted.

He remained adamant that the State’s actions were justified and that the police had the full support of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

“The truth of the matter is that those that are involved in illegal mining, both the syndicates and the active illegal miners, have no regard for the health and safety of others, nor are they concerned about the laws that regulate the industry. They are in it for their own selfish gains and have no regard for the country,” he said.

Mantashe noted that, in 2024 alone, the country lost an estimated R60-billion to the illicit precious metal trade.

“We will continue our fight against illegal mining through initiatives such as the operation Vala Umgodi. We support this programme of the police,” Mantashe said.

Vala Umgodi, which translates to ‘close the hole’, is a law enforcement initiative to seal mine entrances and cut off supplies to illegal miners.

Mantashe insisted that it was the responsibility of law enforcement to deal with illegal miners as they see fit, and that requests for the DMRE to lead the charge were misguided.

“Somebody was trying to say to me, do something about illegal mining. And I said, would you give the responsibility of dealing with cash heists to the Minister of Finance? I said, no, because it is a criminal activity. It is dealt with by the police. Illegal mining is a criminal activity. It must be dealt with by the police,” he said.

He reiterated that the DMRE was supporting the Vala Umgodi initiative by ensuring ongoing concurrent rehabilitation, as well as systematically closing mine entrances on “ownerless holdings”.

“About 800 holdings have been closed thus far, but it depends on the allocation of the budget to close those holdings. On average, we close about 40 holes a year. The total of those holes is 6 100. They do not belong to operational mines. They belong to mines that are derelict. Those are ownerless mines, where no owner can be identified,” he explained.

Mantashe said the DMRE would continue to work with law enforcement to carry out operation Vala Umgodi to deal decisively with illegal mining in Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the Northern Cape and the North West.

“We wish to assure the nation that the State will not take responsibility for the reckless actions of illegal miners,” he said.