Police spokesperson, Sabata Mokgwabone, tells OFM News that Orkney is not under lockdown due to threats of violence by the illegal miners, otherwise known as zama-zamas. 

This follows a bloody shootout between security officials and the police on Wednesday that resulted in the death of at least six of these zama-zamas. 

Mokgwabone says the police, including the Hawks and members of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), are currently on the scene keeping a watchful eye. 

Messages of a lockdown due to threats by the zama-zamas have been doing the rounds on social media. The messages allege that those who shot at the police on Wednesday, are now scattered around town intending to pull the police’s attention away from the mine shaft where other miners are trapped underground.

The shooting comes after illegal miners, usually referred to as zama-zamas, tried to pass on food and water to some of their compatriots who were underground at shaft number six in Orkney. Videos of the alleged shooting and arrests of miners are doing rounds on social media. At least 35 illegal miners have been nabbed for attempted murder, causing an explosion, malicious damage to property, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The issues of illegal mining in Matlosana has been a serious issue for the police and the community of Stilfontein and Orkney.

Over the years, residents of these towns in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda (DRKK) district have continued to bear the brunt of violent crime, as the shooting and killing among zama-zamas continue to grow. However, the police have managed to arrest scores of zama-zamas, both in Orkney and Stilfontein.

OFM News