The “imminent danger” posed by illegal miners has necessitated a multidisciplinary approach, with the muscle of a brigade from the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soon kicking into gear.
The brigade of about 3,000 soldiers is in the final preparation stages at the defence force’s mobilisation centre at De Brug near Bloemfontein. According to defence sources, operations will probably start towards the middle of November as some training is still under way.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in a letter to the National Council of Provinces the extension of Operation Prosper, in which the SANDF supports the police in crime prevention or related operations.
Ramaphosa said the extension over the next six months will cost R110m for 880 soldiers and is to be funded by the Treasury. The SANDF will have to foot the bill from its operational budget to support the rest of the huge deployment, extending the already overburdened defence budget even further.
According to the operational plan, which Business Day has seen, the recently minted modern light brigade of the SA Army with other additional specialist units will conduct operations on a noncontinuous basis.
Specialist units such as engineers, intelligence and signallers (telecoms) will remain on standby for the duration of the six-month operation.
The force will use motorcycles, sniffer dogs and horses to provide additional manoeuvrability to the soldiers, while police will lead the charge. Operations are provisionally scheduled to end on April 28 2024.
Equipment
The modern light brigade has been training at the army’s combat training centre at Lohatla in the Northern Cape for the past two months.
It will use Casspir armoured personnel carriers, Mambas (the smaller version of Casspirs) and Samil trucks to move forces around, as well as other specialised equipment.
Ramaphosa said the support that the SANDF lends to the police is invaluable. “Whenever there are safety and security challenges, they have always asked for soldiers to support the police,” the president said.
In response to questions in the National Assembly, defence & military veterans minister Thandi Modise said the SANDF has not only been keeping an eye on illegal miners but also on cash-in-transit robberies.
Apart from border protection and peacekeeping operations abroad, about 900 soldiers are deployed to protect Eskom power installations.
At least three tactical headquarters and 13 sub-units (companies) of soldiers will assist in hotspots identified for intervention. During stages 1 and 2, operations will be concentrated in Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The Free State and the Northern Cape will follow later.
The army will be responsible for everything from patrols to manning observation posts; apprehending suspects; roadblocks; and the protection of civilians. The main objectives will be to restrict food supplies to those underground and to prevent access to open shafts, especially those with links to legal and operational mines.
“Despite the closing down of shafts, the interlinked tunnels running between the East Rand and West Rand in Gauteng are still being operated [by illegal miners]. Interlinkages, coupled with mining of supporting pillars by illegal miners, could negatively impact already ailing road infrastructure, [and] private and government properties,” the plan reads in describing the intricacies of “zama zama” activities.
Gauteng’s affected areas reach from Carletonville and Roodepoort to Springs and Brakpan. In Mpumalanga, areas affected include Barberton, Evander and Machadodorp. The focus will include Gravelotte, Thabazimbi and Burgersfort in Limpopo and Brits, Orkney and Phukeng in North West.
However, Louis Nel, who has been specialising in mine security for decades, said the plan is flawed and he described it as “political grandstanding”.
“It will not achieve any lasting results because the whole approach is wrong. They will mow the lawn, but it will grow again. For lasting success you need to root out those who buy the illegal minerals — not the foot soldiers operating underground,” Nel said.
Untrained
According to him, no soldiers, and a mere 60 policemen have undergone training to act against zama zamas.
“No, you send in hundreds of soldiers and policemen who do not have a clue about the enemy, the terrain, conditions underground nor the equipment needed. Police and military radios and night vision goggles do not work underground. Descending down a tunnel [only] one or two soldiers or cops can shoot if they are shot at. They are facing hundreds of miners waiting for them.
“In the SANDF plan there is no provision for air support — neither is there for medical evacuations. There is no provision for shallow and deep mines in the plan, [which] require a totally different approach.
“Horses, sniffer dogs and bulky military vehicles are not suitable for the very fast-moving type of operations one would need when you start acting in one area. You need helicopters in the sky and fast vehicles to assist with stopgap manoeuvres,” Nel explained, saying he speaks from his years of experience in assisting in similar operations.
“The miners are highly skilled, organised and well-armed. Entrances and shafts are booby-trapped to prevent any unwanted entries, but you can’t send in a sniffer dog down a tunnel to find those traps. Cutting off food supplies and such will also not work. The miners are clever and stock up on supplies to last them for weeks.
“The timing of the operation is also odd because from the middle of December to mid-January the zama zamas go home and there will be nobody underground or above to arrest.
“The whole exercise is a cosmetic one which will cost millions but achieve nothing.”
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