The resurfacing on Tuesday of illegal mining turmoil at the reviving Blyvoor Gold in the West Rand has prompted the company to write an urgent open letter to Gauteng’s provincial commissioner of police, Lieutenant-General E Mawela. The letter follows a growing list of illegal mining-related violence, including last month’s suspected murder by Zama-Zamas of a couple stranded without petrol at an East Rand highway offramp, near Putfontein, and this week’s closure of a road on the West Rand by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba owing to dangers posed by illegal mining activities in the Roodepoort area.
