Gold rush grips Springs

THE pockmarked earth on Johannesburg’s eastern fringe, until last week a humble cattle kraal ringed with barbed wire, now stands as the unlikely centre of South Africa's latest gold fever.

- AFP

Dozens of fortune-seekers have flocked to the township of Springs, some 50km east of the city, scouring the dirt for gold.

The scene echoes the rush that built Johannesburg, the country’s financial capital, at the turn of the 20th century. The diggers, armed with pickaxes, arrived almost overnight.

"They spread like a virus," security guard Princess Thoko Mlangeni, 33, told AFP outside her tin-shack home overlooking the field, recalling how they first appeared on February 8.

The sudden invasion of Springs reflects a wider frenzy, as gold prices have surged past $5000 (R80 850) an ounce this year, more than double their level last month.