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.

Minister calls for tougher policing and laws

“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.”

David van Wyk, a mining expert and senior researcher at the Benchmark Foundation, said Mantashe was wrong to expect the police to cover the vacuum he had caused by not planning properly for a transition from large scale mining to medium, small and artisanal mining.

The lack of planning for a post-mining economy was one of the main problems causing illegal mining, Van Wyk said.

“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.”

David Bruce, a consultant specialising in policing, crime and criminal justice, said: “We need to be wary of the tendency to think that task teams can be established to address each facet of the crime problem that concerns us.

Concerns over task teams and police capacity

“The main focus must be on overall strengthening of the Saps, particularly to address organised crime in South Africa. This includes tackling police corruption far more vigorously,” Bruce said.

“It also includes strengthening cooperation to better investigate transnational criminal networks in Southern Africa.

“This would place South Africa in a better position to tackle the organised crime structures that are linked to illegal mining.

“A lot more thought must also be given to alternative approaches to engaging with illegal mining, which can be seen as part of the informal economic sector in South Africa, often driven by economic desperation.”

University of Limpopo criminology expert Witness Maluleke said the police dealing with illegal miners, or zama zamas, were already operating as a specialised unit.

Existing police units already doing the work

“The Saps’ specialised team was acting or doing the tasks of the envisaged specialised unit; it is a matter of formalising it and attaching a name to it.

“However, the groundwork has already started. They are doing their utmost in difficult circumstances,” Maluleke said.

“The organised nature of this organised crime is huge and cannot be solely blamed on the local police. We should use multidisciplinary approaches.”

Mike Bolhuis, an investigator specialising in serious violent and economic crimes and cybercrime, supported the minister’s plan.

“If all of the institutions regarding safety and security in South Africa were to do this, it would work.

“However, the authorities and police officers must be willing to do the job. They must also be able, which means they must be capable, which means they must be professional and well-trained. If they don’t have those attributes, it will not work.”

Bolhuis said all police must be trained in a way that they would be able to handle any task. The country needed cops and authorities that are feared and respected, he said.

The combination of the two aspects was vital in fighting any kind of crime.

“We need a serious economic crime unit against serious economic crimes.

“We need units everywhere, a serious violent crime unit, a serious cybercrime unit, which also deals with all cybercrime,” Bolhuis said.