“There is at least one new body here every day,” said John Barnard, a resident from the West Village in Krugersdorp.  He was telling Krugersdorp News of the ongoing war between the illegal miners (zama zamas) in West Village.  

“Sometimes people die underground and the illegal miners just bring the bodies up and leave them somewhere to be found,” Garry Badenhorst, from the neighbourhood watch in West Village, indicated.  West Village residents recently met in a field next to the Bosasa boundary wall and across from the Makhulugama informal settlement, to talk about the problems in their village.  The message was the same – they are tired of their homes and lives being overrun by illegal miners, crime, and fear.  They claimed they were not getting help from the police or the municipality.  “When we phone the Krugersdorp Police for help, they tell us West Village falls under the Kagiso Police,” Barnard said.  But, a similar message is repeated by the Kagiso Police.  It is estimated that more than 400 zama zamas live in Makhulugama, the informal settlement that borders on the village.  Throughout the day, the settlement is bustling, but at night, loud music can be heard.  This is soon followed by hundreds of gunshots.  “Lately you can even hear the gunshots during the day,” Badenhorst remarked.  “These illegals came here and brought crime with them,” said a frustrated Queeneth Ngope, who bought a house in the village last year.

• Read the full original of the report on the situation by Natasha Pretorius at The Citizen

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