Johannesburg - On a really good day, you can make R3 000. But on other days, you will toil in the blazing heat or in the bitter cold weather, crushing rocks, only to go home empty-handed.
It is an illegal operation, but out of desperation, a group of men and women expose themselves and their babies to highly toxic mercury daily in pursuit of gold. And this illegal mining operation is carried out in the open, along the busy Main Reef Road in Roodepoort.
As cars zoom past, the group - which includes women with babies strapped to their backs - criss-cross the busy road, carrying buckets of mine dust on their heads.
“We are trying to get away from crime. We don’t make a lot of money but at least we don’t go to bed hungry.
“If you get us arrested for doing this, we will resort to crime.
“We will break into your houses in broad daylight,” said a man who identified himself as “Sheriff”.
His day starts at the crack of dawn, when he goes down a dark mineshaft in Soweto to collect some rocks and dust.
He then carries the rocks to vacant land behind the Mathole settlement, where he hammers the rocks into dust.
Then Sheriff and his co-workers carry the dust across the road, where it is washed.
Once done, the dust is burnt on a metal sheet and left to cool before it is processed.
Highly toxic mercury is used in the process, but all Sheriff and others are interested in is meeting the demands of their “clients”.
Two women told The Star they never went underground. Instead, they worked for men who delivered rocks for them to grind.
The women are given their own share of the dust, which they process and sell.
Rubbing reddened itchy eyes as she moves a wooden stick in the gold dust she is burning, Mavis - from Malawi - told of hardships that pushed her into the world of illegal gold mining.
“I’ve got no choice because I have four kids and their father is not working. He is too scared to go underground, so he is trying to get a job as a security guard.
“People don’t want to hire me as a domestic worker because I don’t have papers.”
On a very good day she takes home up to R1 000, while the woman working with her admits to sometimes making as little as R30.
The group of illegal miners comprises mainly young men, some from the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, the Free State and North West.
Identifying himself as Kabelo, one of the men said:
“I’ve got matric, security guard training, welding and boilermaker’s certificates, but I can’t get a job. I have children to support, so I don’t have a choice.”
Across the street, a group of men accused The Star team of chasing their clients away. “If they see you here, they won’t come.”
Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said they had “opened an inquiry - it’s not a formal investigation. We will be guided by the outcomes… whether we should arrest anyone.”
DA MP James Lorimer said he had reported the matter to Parliament’s portfolio committee on mineral resources after visiting the area.
The Star