‘Rigged for a war’: Zama Zama gun battles shut N4 and disrupt agriculture in Mpumalanga

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Police investigating the discovery of two bodies in the Mashobote area near Schoemanskloof in Mpumalanga said that the killings may be linked to an ongoing turf war between rival groups of illegal miners.Police also recovered rifle and pistol cartridges at the scene, while an AK-47 magazine and live ammunition were seized in the same area on Wednesday.Gun battles between rival Zama Zama groups are spilling onto the N4, leading to road closures and disrupting agriculture and other businesses in the region.

Agri Mpumalanga President Lion du Plessis told 702’s John Perlman that illegal mining had been a concern in the province for years

“The Zama Zamas have been operating for many years, and we have been very concerned for a while now, and we are taking hands with the local authorities to try and address this issue.”

He said the impact of illegal mining operations is underestimated, both regionally and nationally.

“The impact on agriculture and, I think, the economy as a whole is huge.”

ALSO READ: Mpumalanga police probe suspected illegal mining turf war after two bodies found

According to reports from Agri Mpumalanga members in the area, two rival groups fighting over territory became involved in a shootout.“Automatic rifles were used, endangering the people in the community.”The incident led to road closures in the area, Du Plessis said.“These people operate on the next level. It’s not guys with knives. These guys have proper ammunition, automatic rifles. They are rigged for a war, basically.”The road closures have directly affected farmers and other businesses that rely on the route.“Our trucks transporting goods can’t travel there,” he said.Du Plessis said Agri Mpumalanga was working with police and rural safety officials, but believed the armed groups required specialised police resources.“What is a big concern for us … it’s not standard police officers from a local police station that can contain these people. So these guys require resources, specialised police officers.”That creates another challenge, he said, because specialist resources are limited and deploying them to illegal mining hotspots takes policing capacity away from other rural safety operations.Du Plessis warned that simply dispersing the groups would not solve the underlying problem.“They will go away, but we know that they will come back again because they are busy with an industry, with an economy inside of an economy where these guys are mining illegally.”He described the situation as a crisis.“It is a crisis, and it’s not easy to stop just by one incident. This will take years.”

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