SowetanLive reports that fear and panic has gripped the community of Matholeville near Roodepoort after nine zama zamas (illegal miners) were killed in a deadly attack in the West Rand township in an alleged turf war over control of disused mine shafts.  

According to several community members in the area, an angry group of illegal miners from Zimbabwe attacked their counterparts from Lesotho, leaving nine people dead on the streets.  Residents said the fight was about the rights over the illegal mining in the area.  But Gauteng police spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters said the killings came after a group of suspects accused their victims of being involved in criminal activities that attracted the police to their illegal mining operations.  Peters said 87 people were taken in for questioning over the nine murder cases and an attempted murder case.  She confirmed that nine Lesotho nationals who were involved in illegal mining were stoned to death on Friday afternoon, allegedly by their fellow zama zamas from Lesotho.  "The bodies of the nine Lesotho nationals who are zama zamas were found lying in the streets of Matholeville while the 10th person was seriously injured just after 3pm. He was taken to a local hospital where he is being treated," Peters said.  The attack took place less than a day after police raided the area as part of Operation O Kae Molao.  Community members, however, insisted that Zimbabwean nationals were behind the attack.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at SowetanLive

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