Can govt stop zama zamas?

GWEDE: CALLS FOR UNIT TO DEAL WITH ILLEGAL MINING

- Masoka Dube

AT COALFACE. Extinction Rebellion, a global, non-partisan ecomovement, protests outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre yesterday on the opening day of the African Mining Indaba.

(Picture: Gallo Images)

Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe's call for the establishment of a specialised unit to deal with illegal mining has got a lukewarm response from experts.

"Many offenders are released due to weaknesses in the existing legal framework," Mantashe told the recent South African Human Rights Commission National Inquiry into Policy Framework around Artisanal Mining.

"We continue to believe that the establishment of a specialised police unit and stronger legislative provisions are necessary to decisively deal with this criminal activity."

"This is a business and economics problem, not a policing problem. It took him five years to develop a relevant policy on the matter, so the policy needs to be legislated, not wait another five years."