Informal miners, or zama-zamas, in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, marched to the provincial Hawks office earlier this month to lay a complaint that a case against independent diamond miner Petra Diamonds has not been investigated by law enforcement agencies.
According to Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua), which is supporting the zama-zamas, the company has been operating its Kimberley Ekapa mine without the relevant mining permit with impunity.
In September last year, a case of theft and arson was opened by Informal Miners in Northern Cape chairperson Victor Taku, but Macua claims that “nothing was ever reported about this case”.
“When we mine the same land, we are arrested. Why?” asks Macua in a media statement.
Macua members state that they have been mining the land on which Ekapa has been located since 2003, providing a desperately needed source of income for more than 8 000 people who are now “being prevented from contributing taxes of over R8-million monthly”.