Sunday Times reports that a bloody turf war among illegal miners in Maraisburg, western Johannesburg, where 10 bodies were found last week, is directly linked to the displacement of the gang believed to be behind the Krugersdorp mass rapes.
Apparently, illegal miners who operated in the Krugersdorp area until the gang rape have sought refuge in other parts of Gauteng, where they have been muscling their way on to the territories of rival illegal mining groups. On Wednesday, communities around Maraisburg awoke to the gruesome discovery of seven mutilated bodies along the N1 highway. Two days later the bodies of three illegal miners with gunshot wounds were found in the same area. According to Dikgang Molefenyane, an illegal miner who was on the scene during the attack, their group, Terene ea Chakela, was attacked by members of the rival Seakhi group. According to Molefenyane, the Chakela group had been operating in abandoned mines along Main Reef Road for more than five years. On Tuesday night, they were accosted by a group of more than 100 Seakhi members. This group originally conducted their operations in Krugersdorp. The two groups, both with their roots in Mafeteng, Lesotho, have been caught up in a cycle of killings and revenge killings since 2010. Another zama zama, Kabelo Kibinye, said the group that attacked them came from Zamimpilo informal settlement, where illegal miners from Krugersdorp were given refuge after police swooped on the area after the gang rapes in July when eight women were attacked by scores of men. Kibinye said the huge influx of illegal miners from the West Rand had created problems for them.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Cracking down on zama zamas is pointless - they are victims too, at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
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