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'Everything is being stripped and stolen' in South Africa's run-down city of gold
By Joseph Cotterill
Financial Times, London
Friday, April 7, 2023
When Roesdien Hendricks warns that his community in the heart of Johannesburg is about to explode because of illegal gold miners who scare away the police, strip power cables, and divert water supplies, he is not exaggerating.
As "Zama-zamas" blow up a historic gold reef that was at the core of nearly 140 years of exploitation that made the South African metropolis one of Africa's greatest cities, they are venturing so close to gas lines that they risk causing a fiery blast that would devastate the entire suburb of Riverlea.
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"We are sitting on gold, literally ... but we are also sitting on a timebomb, waiting to explode," the 50-year-old activist said.
Hendricks added that the police were "useless" at stopping the turf battles between rival miners whose gunfights punctuated the night. "We are told, 'we can't come, we are scared of the violence in your area.'"
Riverlea's troubles epitomise a growing sense of lawlessness and infrastructural collapse in South Africa's biggest city, a reflection of a national malaise of severe rolling blackouts and decline under the ruling African National Congress of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.ft.com/content/7e267ded-2320-4e6c-aa26-1c4be9df192c
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