The deadly lure of gold

THIS week, 78 illegal miners died after an underground fire broke out in a perilous abandoned mine shaft on Harmony Gold's Eland operation in the Free State town of Welkom.

THIS week, 78 illegal miners died after an underground fire broke out in a perilous abandoned mine shaft on Harmony Gold's Eland operation in the Free State town of Welkom.

Malatse Nyareli, 27, was one of those known as zama-zamas. His family collected his corpse this week, three months after he left home, saying he was "going to find work". He spent the last three months of his life underground, mining gold with reportedly hundreds of other illegal miners.

The zama-zamas work in groups of 10, travelling more than 30km underground in the practically airless, chemical-laden and sweltering tunnels in search of gold.

They live underground for months, without oxygen masks, sleeping and eating in the tunnels.

On Friday May 29, a fire broke out deep below the surface of the disused 1400m Eland mine, engulfing many in smoke and flame.

They had nowhere to go, and help did not arrive. Mine bosses and emergency services would not risk lives for the illegal miners.

Nyareli and 77 others were dragged to the surface by their colleagues. There were not enough body bags or space in the local mortuary for all of them.

In answering why a man in the prime of his life would enter a barricaded dungeon that became a raging inferno, one zama-zama, 27-year-old *Thabang, put it down to the lure of quick money, fast cars and sharp clothes.

"[There is] one guy I know who, after spending more than six months underground, made R1.6-million in illegal gold trading," he claims.

Gold mining companies previously provided jobs for hundreds of men from the neighbouring countries of Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique.

Nyareli arrived from Lesotho a few years ago, but work was scarce.

Illegal mining flourished, providing money for retired and retrenched miners, and unemployed youths like Nyareli. The business has seen hundreds die, but it is profitable and, since 2005, police have arrested nearly 3000 illegal miners.

Thabang said pirate mining was fuelled by bribes. "The miners pay a bribe of about R1000 to security guards to get into the [disused] mines," he said.

Once they are inside and "hit gold", the ore is transported to the notorious G Hostel in Thabong township, near Welkom.

Here, informal smelting operations are conducted.

Outside the G hostel, allegedly run by hit men and gold traders, The Times was warned: "You don't ask questions about the selling of gold, otherwise you stand a chance of not coming out alive."

Inside, smelting pots lie in the hallways, and outside expensive cars such as BMW M3s and popular 325ISs line the parking lot.

From the hostel, the gold is transported to big cities, including Johannesburg, where the buyers wait with cash, Thabang said.

The money then travels back to the zama-zamas underground after each link in the chain is paid their dues.

"Everyone gets paid. The guys in the underground can make more than R10000 a week," Thabang said.

Police director Jacob Tsumane said they were hoping to catch the "big fish", operation masterminds raking in the big bucks by exploiting the zama-zamas.

"It is the big guys behind the syndicate we want to catch, who are using people to go down and risk their lives in illegal mines," he said.

Who are the big guys?

Ask a zama-zama, and his answer is: "The Mafia."

National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka believes mine bosses should be investigated to establish whether they, themselves, are behind illegal mining in abandoned shafts that are too dangerous for registered workers.

For those like Nyareli, it does not matter.

His family will be burying him this weekend and another young zama-zama is waiting in the wings for the furore to die down, before taking his turn in the dungeons to search for gold.

Not his real name