FIVE corpses of dead Basotho miners which were recovered from the informal mines in South Africa are expected to arrive in Lesotho on Wednesday.
news
June 29, 2021
STAFF REPORTER
2 min read
Dead Basotho ‘zama zamas’ expected home
A zama zama coming out of an informal mine
This was confirmed by the District Administrator of Butha-Buthe, Tšepa Chaba.
He said all the deceased will be laid to rest in a single service to be held in Motete on Thursday.
He said the remaining six out of the 11 identified corpses belonging to Lesotho nationals reportedly came from Leribe.
In a previous interview, the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lieutenant Colonel Tanki Mothae said reports from the Lesotho’s consulate office in Klerksdorp show that about 20 bodies of dead Basotho miners were recovered from the informal mines earlier this month.
He said Lesotho zama zamas operating in South African illegal mines compromise the bilateral relations between the two countries
The ‘zama-zamas’ as the miners are commonly called illegally mine gold in abandoned SA mines which is run by crime syndicates.
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The multi-million rand businesses which are considered as extremely dangerous are associated with risks of injuries and deaths from explosives, toxic fume inhalation, collapsing mine shafts and gang violence.
Between 2012 and 2015, more than 300 miners working informally in the abandoned mines reportedly died.
Statistics further show that around 30 000 illegal miners work in and around thousands of disused and active mines across South Africa. .
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