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Mining Weekly reports that the reemergence of illegal mining in the Carletonville area on the West Rand has prompted Blyvoor Gold to write an urgent open letter to Gauteng's provincial commissioner of police, Lieutenant-General E Mawela.
The letter follows a growing list of illegal mining-related violence, including last month's suspected murder by zama-zamas of a couple stranded without petrol at an East Rand highway offramp, near Putfontein, and this week's closure of a road on the West Rand by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba owing to dangers posed by illegal mining activities in the Roodepoort area. The contents of the letter to the general highlights the huge issue of the confiscation by police of legal and licensed security force firearms, and the abject failure of police to curb the activities of zama-zamas with illegal and unlicenced firearms. The letter was forwarded by Blyvoor Gold management, the Community of Blyvoor, represented by Johannes Tala, and Blyvoor Gold's black economically empowered (BEE) employees, represented by Wels Sempe. Blyvoor Gold's employees own 26% of the shares of the company, which also has community support. Sempe is playing a leading role in reopening the mine, which has the potential to re-employ 2,000 abandoned former mineworkers. Blyvoor Gold, which is in the process of completing a six-metre-high bullet-resistant security wall around the reopening shaft and brand new gold plant, is targeting resuming gold production in the last quarter of this year.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard and the text of the open letter at Mining Weekly
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