Mining in focus
winning this battle. One of the measures
is the establishment of the Standing
Committee on Security (SCOS) and
the National Co-ordinating Strategic
Management Team (NCSMT).
Together with the Department of
Mineral Resources and the South
African Police Service (SAPS), the
SCOS and the NCSMT are focused on
clamping down on the buying market
nationally and internationally. The work
is done collaboratively with international
agencies that include the United Nations
Interregional Crime and Justice Research
Institute (UNICRI), European police,
Interpol, and international embassies.
Lutchman mentioned that other
measures taken by Sibanye-Stillwater to
curb illegal mining included food bans,
saturation patrols, and armed guarding.
Mine employees were banned from
bringing their own food underground.
According to Lutchman, the mine
supplied the employees with two nutritious
meals daily before and after their shifts.
Challenges against the battle
of illegal mining
Despite all the measures put in place to
fight illegal mining, several challenges
are making it a monumental task to win
the battle. During a joint briefing session
by the portfolio committees of police
and mineral resources, certain challenges
in the fight against illegal mining were
highlighted. One of them was corruption
within the criminal justice system. This
makes it easy for illegal mining culprits
to fall through the cracks. In addition,
corruption within the formal mining
sector also added to the overall problem
of corruption.
Different mining
companies have
put measures in
place to try and
get illegal mining
under control.
OCTOBER 2018 MINING MIRROR
[23]