South Africa illegal gold mining persists as abandoned shafts, high bullion prices fuel damage

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South Africa illegal gold mining

Highlights

Tens of thousands are engaged in illegal gold mining near Johannesburg, driven by high gold prices, chronic unemployment, and 6,100 derelict mines.
Politicians blame illegal miners for infrastructure damage such as sinkholes, but researchers argue legacy formal mining also caused large-scale ground instability.
Violence around mining shafts is primarily linked to armed groups controlling access, while mining income supports vulnerable communities and rental markets, complicating enforcement efforts.

Drivers of illegal mining around Johannesburg

As reported by The Guardian, illegal gold mining remains entrenched in and around Johannesburg, where abandoned shafts, rising bullion prices and chronic economic hardship continue to draw thousands of people into the trade. Researchers cited in the report say the number of illegal miners runs into the tens of thousands, far beyond the scale suggested by weekly police arrest figures.

In Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, animal welfare charity Claw says illegal miners recently began digging across the road from its site and took water from tanks used for rescued animals. Founder Cora Bailey says police told her the operation was too large for them to stop, and although officers later cleared vegetation that had concealed the group, miners returned within days.

South Africa's police regularly report arrests linked to illegal mining, including 71 suspected zama zamas detained nationwide in the week to 19 October. But the underlying incentives remain in place, including high gold prices, unemployment, poverty, alleged corruption involving politicians and police, and failures to seal disused shafts after mine closures.

Those legacy risks are extensive. Mining minister Gwede Mantashe said in a 2025 parliamentary reply that South Africa had 6,100 derelict and ownerless mines and 1,170 unsafe mine openings, underscoring the scale of abandoned infrastructure that illegal miners can access.

Infrastructure damage and debate over blame

South of Johannesburg, mine dumps and unstable land are shaping a growing political dispute over sinkholes and surface collapse ahead of local elections on 4 November. Politicians have pointed to zama zamas as the clear cause in cases such as the collapse of part of Wemmer Pan Road, once a key route linking the central business district with southeastern suburbs.

However, academics and mining researchers cited in the report say illegal miners are being used as scapegoats for wider geological and industrial damage. Rosalind Morris of Columbia University says formal mining has long destabilised dolomitic ground by removing water underground at industrial scale, while illegal mining can also trigger local collapses in areas where residual gold is being intensively worked.

Analysts also say violence in mining zones is often tied less to miners underground than to armed groups controlling access to shafts and gold flows. David van Wyk of Bench Marks Foundation says the workers entering the mines are typically highly exploited labourers, while armed networks higher up the chain capture the value.

In communities such as Khutsong, west of Johannesburg, campaigners say illegal mining income also supports local households and rental markets, complicating any enforcement-only response. That economic dependence suggests the sector's footprint is likely to remain a social and policy challenge for South Africa's mining regions.

Our earlier coverage of executive pay trends in South Africa highlighted how remuneration for CEOs and CFOs at JSE Top 200 companies has been rising, with short- and long-term incentive payouts growing far faster than fixed pay. We also noted that recent Companies Act changes tighten governance by forcing disclosure of pay ratios and introducing binding shareholder votes on remuneration.

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