Petition to Portfolio Committees for Mineral Resources & Energy, Forestry & Fisheries, South African Police Services, and Home Affairs to Address Illegal Mining Activity in Ward 36

Introduction

The Simmer and Jack Landfill Site in Ward 36, Germison, and residents in surrounding areas are living in fear as they are threatened by illegal mining activity in the area. Illegal mining activity is severely affecting residents' safety, causing sinkholes,  collapsing roads (such as Lower Main Reef Road in Wychwood), and interfering with infrastructure such as water and sewage pipelines, and has resulted in an increased incidence of electricity and cable theft.

There are also continuous gunfights between rival mining gangs with stray bullets being found in the nearby schools, and in formal and Informal residential areas. This is having a negative impact on surrounding businesses as well as the functioning of the Simmer and Jack landfill site which had to face numerous forced closures due to ongoing violence among illegal miners. This then affects service delivery, in particular waste management, posing a significant health risk to the area as the operations on the landfill site cannot be carried out.

We, the residents of Ward 36, Germiston,  hereby petition the Portfolio Committees for Mineral Resources and Energy, Forestry and Fisheries, South African Police Services, and Home Affairs to implement an Action Plan as a matter of urgency per the regulations, to address Illegal Mining in the area. This includes amongst other things:

1. Ensuring that SAPS in the area is adequately trained and resourced to police illegal mining.

2. Ensuring that drastic steps are taken against the mines that allow old shafts to remain open and Environmental Legislation needs to be enforced.

3. Developing legislation to regulate small-scale mining in order to create jobs.

4. Putting financial regulations in place so that money obtained through mining activities benefit the local communities where the mining takes place and remains in South Africa so that our economy benefits from the extraction of these resources.

Democratic Alliance Ekurhuleni    Contact the author of the petition