oluwatosin oyeniyi RUSTENBURG, South Africa — At least 14 suspected illegal miners have died after a rockfall at a disused mine near Rustenburg in South Africa’s North West province, once again exposing the deadly conditions surrounding the country’s illegal mining industry.
South African police confirmed the deaths on Tuesday, August 11, saying scores of other people were injured in the incident. Rescue teams were deployed to the abandoned mining site in Nkaneng, where authorities continued searching for possible survivors and additional people who may have been trapped underground.
The incident has renewed questions over how South Africa manages its extensive network of abandoned mine shafts and whether current efforts to combat illegal mining are addressing the economic and criminal networks that keep drawing people into dangerous underground operations.
A Deadly Rockfall
The miners were reportedly working illegally at a disused mine when part of the underground structure collapsed.
Among those rescued were injured miners who were transported for medical treatment. Authorities said some of the injured were subsequently placed under police guard because of suspicions that they had been participating in illegal mining activities.
The operation remained active as emergency personnel used specialist equipment and search dogs to determine whether additional miners were trapped underground.
The deaths are particularly significant because abandoned mines across South Africa have become increasingly associated with informal mining operations conducted in hazardous conditions, often without ventilation, structural assessments, protective equipment or reliable emergency access.
The Rise of the “Zama Zamas”
Illegal miners, commonly known in South Africa as “zama zamas,” operate in abandoned or active mines in search of gold, platinum and other valuable minerals.
The practice has grown into a complex national problem. What can appear to be informal artisanal mining is frequently connected to organised criminal networks that control access to underground shafts, supply equipment and food, purchase extracted minerals and facilitate the movement of illegally mined resources.
The result is an industry in which economically vulnerable workers can become exposed to both physical danger and criminal exploitation.
For many miners, however, the decision to enter abandoned shafts is also linked to unemployment and the search for income in communities where formal economic opportunities remain limited.
This creates a difficult policy challenge for South African authorities: criminal enforcement may disrupt illegal operations, but without viable livelihoods and regulated alternatives, people can continue returning to abandoned mines.
A Crisis That Has Repeatedly Turned Fatal
The Rustenburg deaths are not an isolated tragedy.
South Africa has experienced several major incidents involving illegal miners in recent years. In 2024, more than 80 illegal miners died at the Stilfontein mine after being trapped underground during a prolonged confrontation with authorities. The disaster generated intense debate over the government’s approach to illegal mining and the humanitarian responsibilities owed to people trapped underground.
The country has also witnessed fatalities linked to dangerous underground conditions and illegal mineral processing.
These incidents demonstrate that the problem extends beyond individual miners entering abandoned shafts. It involves the legacy of thousands of closed mining operations, gaps in mine rehabilitation, organised crime, border controls, unemployment and weaknesses in the enforcement of mining regulations.
Why Abandoned Mines Remain Vulnerable
South Africa has one of the world’s longest mining histories and possesses extensive networks of old underground workings.
When mines close, shafts must be properly secured, rehabilitated and monitored. Yet abandoned infrastructure can remain attractive to criminal groups and informal miners because valuable deposits may still exist underground.
The scale of the problem also creates enormous enforcement challenges. South African authorities have previously acknowledged that illegal mining is intertwined with organised criminal activity, infrastructure damage and the smuggling of minerals.
The country’s Parliament has also identified abandoned and active mines as sites vulnerable to illegal mining operations and warned about the safety risks created when illegal miners enter underground workings.
Enforcement Alone Cannot End Illegal Mining
The government has intensified operations against illegal mining, including military and police deployments targeting criminal syndicates and illicit mining sites.
But repeated deaths suggest that enforcement alone cannot provide a lasting solution.
Closing mine entrances without addressing the networks controlling illegal mining can simply push miners deeper underground or redirect activity to another abandoned site. Similarly, arresting individual miners does little to dismantle the financial structures that purchase illegally extracted minerals.
A more comprehensive strategy would need to distinguish between the workers operating underground and the organised networks profiting from their activities.
Authorities could strengthen investigations into mineral buyers, financiers, equipment suppliers, transport networks and international trafficking routes while expanding legal economic opportunities for communities dependent on informal mining.
Protecting Workers While Protecting the Rule of Law
The government faces a legitimate responsibility to combat illegal mining, protect mineral resources and dismantle organised crime. At the same time, miners working illegally remain human beings entitled to basic protections and humane treatment.
This balance is particularly important during rescue operations.
The deaths at Rustenburg should therefore prompt questions beyond whether the miners broke the law. Authorities and mining companies must also examine whether abandoned shafts are adequately secured, whether warning systems exist and whether communities have access to safe reporting mechanisms when people become trapped underground.
Preventing the next disaster requires intervention before people enter dangerous shafts, rather than waiting until rescue teams are called to recover bodies.
The Economic Question
South Africa’s illegal mining crisis also exposes a broader contradiction.
The country possesses enormous mineral wealth, yet many communities surrounding mining regions continue to experience unemployment, poverty and limited economic opportunities.
That gap creates fertile ground for illicit economies.
A sustainable response would combine stronger law enforcement with investment in mining communities, vocational training, small-business development and pathways into regulated artisanal and small-scale mining where appropriate.
Formalising parts of the sector could also allow governments to introduce safety requirements, environmental controls and taxation while reducing the influence of criminal syndicates.
A Warning for Africa’s Mining Economies
The Rustenburg tragedy carries implications beyond South Africa.
Across Africa, informal and artisanal mining provides livelihoods for millions of people but can also expose workers to dangerous conditions, environmental degradation, exploitation and criminal networks.
Governments seeking to benefit from Africa’s mineral wealth must therefore consider not only how much gold, platinum, cobalt or other minerals are extracted, but also who extracts them, under what conditions, and who ultimately benefits.
The deaths near Rustenburg are a reminder that mineral wealth without effective governance can carry a devastating human cost.
As rescue teams continue their work, the immediate priority remains finding anyone who may still be trapped and providing medical care to survivors.
But the longer-term challenge is much larger: South Africa must develop a mining strategy that protects its mineral resources without leaving vulnerable communities dependent on dangerous and criminalised underground economies.
Until that balance is achieved, abandoned mines will remain more than remnants of the country’s industrial past. They will continue to represent a deadly intersection of poverty, organised crime and Africa’s struggle to manage its vast mineral wealth responsibly
