Africa·South Africa
Johannesburg's illegal gold miners take the blame for sinkholes, but experts point at big mining
JOHANNESBURG —
Depth
Dig five layers into this story — from what happened to the full picture.
L1What happened
Zama zamas set up across from Claw's animal shelter in late September and drew on its water tanks. Police said they arrested 71 suspected illegal miners nationwide in the week to Oct 19.
L2Who’s affected
Residents, the ~100 animals at Claw, commuters on the collapsed Wemmer Pan Road, and the miners themselves, mostly from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, per experts. In Khutsong, Vusi Cele says miners' rents keep the township afloat: "Without those rents, it's a ghost town."
L3Why it’s quiet
Analysis · OVERLOOKED A slow-burning local crisis with no single news event, overshadowed by bigger global stories.
L4Deeper impact
Rosalind Morris (Columbia): "The biggest culprit of sinkholes in South Africa is formal industrial mining," which dewaters on a massive scale. Bench Marks' David van Wyk says armed gangs, not the "super-exploited" miners, take the gold. Mining minister Gwede Mantashe reported 6,100 derelict and ownerless mines and 1,170 unsafe openings in 2025.
L5Full context
Gold was found in 1884, creating Johannesburg; South Africa was the world's top producer until 2007. In 2019 a researcher estimated a tenth of South African gold, worth about $1bn, was exported illegally. In 2025, 93 bodies were pulled from a Stilfontein shaft after police blocked food and water.
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Original reporting
This is an OVERLOOKED summary of the reporting above. Facts and figures come from the linked sources. Everything here is a fact unless it is labelled otherwise. Support this work.
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