WATCH | Zama-zama violence drives 400 families out of their homes

Violence and extortion by zama-zamas forced more than 400 families to flee the Sporong informal settlement in Randfontein to a community hall, where they live now under cramped and unhygienic conditions.

Thirteen days ago, more than 600 people left all their belongings behind, took their children, packed all they could carry and fled to the hall in the Randfontein CBD. There, they share two toilets — one for men and one for women. They have no privacy and even have to bathe in front of others.

Residents said they had no choice but to flee Sporong because illegal miners regularly invaded their homes, assaulted them and demanded cash. They also said there would be prolonged gunfire in the area from the zama-zamas, sometimes lasting hours.

One of the residents said that when the situation got unbearable, they asked the ward councillor, Alfred Thenjekwayo, to help them, as they were not feeling safe.

“He first took us to Finsbury hall, and the residents there chased us away and told us the hall belonged to them. They even told us that we are going to bring them zama-zamas. The councillor made a plan and took us to Randgate hall.”

They shoot people in the streets and go into homes, especially targeting the elderly and stealing their social grants.

—  Elsie Mokobane

When a Sowetan team visited the hall on Tuesday, women and men sat among folded blankets, while some residents prepared food in the kitchen.

Among those sheltering at the hall was Johanna Bergman, who moved there with her six children, including seven-week-old twins.

“For me, being here with my children is not a good experience, but at least we are safe from the zama-zamas,” she said.

Bergman said there was not enough food at the hall and that the conditions were not hygienic.

“We can’t complain because we feel safer here. There are no zama-zamas, no gunshots, no robberies or killings,” she said.

Bergman said she had lived at Sporong since 2017, but things changed last year when residents began to be terrorised by illegal miners.

“We are scared to go back. When they start shooting, we lie on the floor with our children. We don’t know when it will stop, and we are scared to even leave our shacks,” she said.

Bergman said residents at the informal settlement used whistles to alert each other when there was a fire.

However, no one dared to make a sound when the zama-zamas were firing guns.

“We just lie on the floor, hoping they will go away,” she said.

Another resident, Esther Mhlongo, 40, said illegal miners stormed into her home and demanded money and cellphones.

“It was hard to live there. If you don’t have money, they take your child and force you to find the money. If you don’t have cash, they demand you transfer it,” she said.

Mhlongo said that at the beginning of the year, a group of men broke into her home while she and her children hid under the bed and her husband hid in another room.

“They found me under the bed, dragged me out, hit me with a gun and demanded money,” she said.

After handing over all the money she had, the men found her husband and assaulted him, she said.

“They hit him on the head and slit his arms with a knife. He was bleeding badly. We need help,” she said.

Elsie Mokobane, 45, who has lived in Sporong for seven years, said she and her children were deeply traumatised.

“They have been harassing us, killing people and sending others to hospital,” she said.

“When they came back, they targeted tuckshops and small businesses. They shoot people in the streets and go into homes, especially targeting the elderly and stealing their social grants.”

Mokobane said residents had repeatedly asked the police for help, but the attacks continued.

The families said they submitted their names to human settlement department officials, who went to assess the situation in Sporong. They are awaiting feedback on when they will be allocated homes.

When Sowetan visited Sporong, many of the homes were empty.

A few people who were there said they were not willing to leave their homes and belongings.

The defence force had said it would patrol areas affected by zama-zamas, but so far, the police have not yet requested their assistance.

“We are not there until police request more assistance; we are not there [in the area],” said spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini.

Ward councillor Thenjekwayo was not available for comment as he was in training.

Sowetan reached out to Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo via text and a phone message, but he had not responded at the time of publication.

Sowetan