Deal with zama zamas, or we will – Riverlea community tells police

Residents of Riverlea threatened to take matters into their own hands should police not deal decisively with illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, in their community.

On Friday, the police ministry held an illegal mining crime imbizo at the Riverlea Recreation Centre grounds.

This follows protests in the area by community members, who say they no longer feel safe walking the streets due to a turf war between rival zama zama gangs.

The community of Riverlea said the solution to permanently end the scourge of zama zamas in the area is to clear out the Zamimpilo informal settlement.

Residents said the informal settlement is built on top of gas pipelines and other critical underground infrastructure, posing a great danger.

“We want a solution here, not a temporary thing it’s not going to work or as a community, we are going to stand for ourselves.”

“We have to be the ones to respond first to incidents before the police, we work harder than the police we get injuries more than any other police.”

The joint residents’ committee of Ward 68 submitted a memorandum of demands to the South African Police Service and Home Affairs, asking them to arrest and deport all undocumented foreigners at Zamimpilo.

-EWN

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