More than 600 families, mostly women and children, have been displaced in Randfontein following a surge in violent activities linked to illegal mining operations.
ATM leader Vuyo Zungula, who recently visited the area, described illegal mining in South Africa as a growing criminal enterprise.
“Today, I visited displaced families from the Sporong informal settlement, currently sheltering at Randgate Community Hall in Randfontein. These families were violently driven from their homes by criminal illegal miners while the state failed to protect them. What I witnessed is a shameful indictment of government inaction. No community should be forced to flee their homes in their own country,” Zungula said.
He added: “Illegal mining in South Africa has become an organised, violent criminal activity that thrives on fear, displacement, and environmental destruction. Communities are being terrorised, women and children forced to flee, and entire neighbourhoods abandoned to criminals. No one should be forced to run from their home in their own country. This crisis demands immediate security intervention, urgent humanitarian relief, and a binding plan for permanent resettlement. South Africans are tired of excuses and task teams that deliver nothing.”
Premier Panyaza Lesufi, accompanied by Provincial Commissioner Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni, Gauteng MECs, and the Rand West Executive Mayor, conducted a walkabout in Randfontein, engaging directly with displaced residents.
Lesufi reassured the community that the provincial government is implementing a coordinated plan with all relevant stakeholders to restore safety and stability. He revealed that land has been identified for relocation, but only registered South African citizens from the Sporong informal settlement will be moved.
“We have identified land so those that have been registered… they will be taken to that allocation site,” Lesufi said.
In response to the crisis, the City’s Public Safety Department, through the JMPD Tactical Response Unit (TRU), will be deployed alongside SAPS, Gauteng Police, and other stakeholders to strengthen law enforcement, stabilise affected areas, and protect vulnerable communities.
“This deployment reinforces a coordinated, multi-agency approach to restore order, protect affected communities, and uphold the rule of law,” said MMC Public Safety Mgcini Tshwaku.
He added, “The TRU deployment, working alongside SAPS, GTP Gauteng Police, and other stakeholders, forms part of a coordinated, multi-disciplinary response aimed at confronting criminal elements linked to illegal mining, protecting displaced communities, and reinforcing the rule of law.”
Saturday Star