WATCH | Lesufi pledges police presence to combat illegal mining in Sporong

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has assured residents of the Sporong informal settlement that a police Nyala will be stationed in the area for the next seven days while a special unit deals with illegal mining activities.

Lesufi visited the area on Thursday morning.

He first went to the informal settlement to assess the situation before meeting displaced residents sheltering at the Randgate community hall in Randfontein.

More than 600 people left all their belongings at the informal settlement, took their children, packed all they could carry and fled to the hall in Randfontein due to violence and alleged extortion by zama-zamas.

Addressing residents, Lesufi said he was not there to point fingers or apportion blame but to find solutions to the crisis they were facing.

He was accompanied by MECs for social development Faith Mazibuko, human settlements Tasneem Motara and infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo. Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Tommy Mthombeni also joined the visit.

Lesufi said an agreement had been reached to prioritise the most vulnerable residents.

“We have agreed that those who are ill, those with small children and the elderly will be taken to homes (immediately),” he said.

I was told that most of you do not want to go back home, but for those who do, there will be a police Nyala in the area for the next seven days. Police will be there 24 hours a day to guard those homes

—  Premier Panyaza Lesufi

He told residents who were approved for housing subsidies that they would be allocated homes and informed when to move.

Those who had not yet registered for housing were given an opportunity to do so, he said.

“There are those who are saying they do not want to go back to where they came from. I am here with the MEC for infrastructure and the MEC for human settlements. We have identified land where people will be taken temporarily,” Lesufi said.

He added that residents who wished to retrieve their shacks from the informal settlement would be assisted by the police.

The announcement was met with loud cheers from residents.

Lesufi also committed that the government would assist affected children with school uniforms, stationery and transport.

“I was told that most of you do not want to go back home, but for those who do, there will be a police Nyala in the area for the next seven days. Police will be there 24 hours a day to guard those homes,” he said.

The premier apologised to residents for the delay in addressing their situation.

“In the next seven days, I believe all your troubles will be over,” he said, prompting another loud cheer from the crowd.

After addressing the residents, Lesufi told the media that what they were dealing with was the price of lawlessness.

“We cannot allow people who terrorise the people as if we do not have the army. I asked the provincial commissioner to bring his best team that can take on this issue,” he said.

“The second thing is illegal occupation of land. What we are dealing with here is people who occupied land, and we did not intervene, and now we have to deal with the consequences of that.”