SABC News reports that Black First Land First (BLF) and small-scale miners gathered on Friday at the Samaria Informal Settlement in Kimberley in the Northern Cape to discuss the treatment of zama-zama's (illegal miners) by government.  

BLF first deputy president Zanele Lwana said small-scale miners have the right to mine the land owned by the mining giants such as De beers and called for the immediate recognition and legalisation of small-scale mining.  "Zama zama's should be legalized.  They have the right to mine in this land.  They must be subsidized by the government just like all other mining houses get subsidized by government.  They must be recognized as an entity that operates within the system.  And they must be able to sell within the market and be able to create employment opportunities," Lwana said.  He also claimed that the dumps where zama zamas were mining had been abandoned by the De Beers Group more than 100 years ago and illegal miners had discovered the site on their own.

• A short report is at SABC News
• See too a longer report by The New Age at HRSyndication

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page