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TimesLIVE Premium reports that frustrated residents of Primrose in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, have approached parliament to develop an urgent action plan to tackle illegal mining in the area, which they say is the cause of the high crime levels and the frequent power outages they experience.
Ward councillor Wendy Morgan said they have submitted a petition to the portfolio committees for mineral resources and energy, police, home affairs and the environment to urgently implement a joint action plan to address illegal mining in the area. Morgan said since August last year, they have reported cable theft more than 77 times, and their substation has been out over 40 times, which affects the community for two days, three days at a time. “You often hear stray bullets coming through people’s ceilings. Fortunately, no-one has been hurt, but there is ground blasting that is making the residential area shake,” Morgan lamented. She said the gunshots that sometimes lasted until the early hours of the morning emanate from the disused mine shafts where zama zamas (illegal miners) were fighting for territory.
The chairperson of the Primrose community policing forum (CPF), Tracey Enslin, said a recent meeting with officials was positive, with representatives from the mayor's office, the premier's office and the department of community safety. “We did a site visit at lower Main Reef Road, where zama zamas are very active and constantly blasting underground. This blasting has got so bad that it has caused damage to residential properties in the area and is now causing a sinkhole on the N3 freeway,” she indicated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phathu Luvhengo at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
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