More drama unfolded on Thursday morning as a second body was discovered near the N4 in Schoemanskloof as an apparent zama zama conflict forced authorities to shut the strategic route, again.
The latest discovery prompted the closure of the section between the Montrose and Crossroads intersections, with motorists advised to divert through Elands Valley.
It marked another grim turn in a security crisis that began when suspected illegal miners exchanged gunfire around Mashobote on Tuesday, forcing authorities to temporarily close the N4 as police moved into the area.
When officers arrived, the gunmen were gone. But there were bloodstains.
As police continued monitoring the area later that afternoon, they recovered two live rounds of ammunition and an empty magazine for an AK-47 rifle.
By Wednesday morning, there was a body. A community member discovered the unidentified man shortly after 7am and alerted police.
By Thursday, another body had been discovered and the strategic route was again closed.
Blood, bullets and now two bodies
Police had not immediately established whether the latest deceased was another casualty of the suspected zama zama violence.
The first body is already part of an investigation into Tuesday’s shooting.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli said police could not rule out a connection between that body, the gunfire and illegal mining.
“With the discovery of the body this morning, police cannot rule out the possibility that the deceased could be linked to the alleged illegal mining activities and the reported shooting incident which was reported yesterday,” Mdhluli said.
“However, this will form part of the ongoing investigation by the police.”
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Apaphia Modise assembled a team of seasoned detectives to establish the identity of the deceased, his cause of death and the circumstances surrounding the discovery.
The area was already blood-soaked before this week. SAPS opened a six-count murder case after six bodies with gunshot wounds were discovered at Mashobote on August 29.
Police said preliminary investigations suggested the killings could be connected to rivalry between illegal-mining groups operating in the area.
READ MORE: SAPS crack down on illegal mining after deadly tavern shooting
Call for soldiers
The unfolding crisis has transformed a section of one of Mpumalanga’s most important transport corridors into another frontline in South Africa’s long battle against heavily armed illegal-mining groups.
The repeated disruption has now prompted calls for soldiers to be brought into the fight.
Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism special attaché for Tourism Development and Transformation Ikaneng “Oupa” Pilane called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and national security authorities to consider SANDF support for Mpumalanga.
“If the SANDF can be deployed alongside the police to combat illegal mining in other affected parts of South Africa, Mpumalanga cannot be left behind,” Pilane said.
“The N4 is more than a road. It is an economic and tourism artery connecting Gauteng, Mbombela, the Kruger National Park and Mozambique.
“We cannot invite the world to visit Mpumalanga while criminal networks are allowed to threaten communities and strategic tourism corridors.”
The SANDF is already working alongside SAPS against illegal mining and organised crime through Operation Prosper. In June alone, the joint operation resulted in 1,149 arrests nationally and the seizure of 25 illegal firearms and 238 rounds of ammunition, according to the government.
READ MORE: Ramaphosa unleashes SANDF to tackle illegal mining, gang violence
‘They are better equipped than us’
Pilane’s demand comes against a long history of authorities struggling with the scale and firepower associated with parts of the illegal-mining economy.
In August 2022, then police minister Bheki Cele made an extraordinary admission while addressing West Rand communities following the gang rape of eight women near an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp.
“They are better equipped than us,” Cele said of zama zamas.
Then Gauteng premier David Makhura described the illegal miners as “an armed force” and said the problem had become an issue of national security. Cele subsequently told parliament that police could not deal with illegal mining on their own.
The danger has increasingly escaped the darkness of abandoned shafts.
Eighteen people were killed in the recent Wedela tavern massacre near Carletonville, with an illegal-mining turf war among the possible motives investigated by police.
READ MORE: Death toll in Wedela tavern shooting rises to 18
Security forces themselves have also faced the hazards of pursuing zama zamas, including two SANDF members who previously plunged into an abandoned mine shaft while chasing suspected illegal miners.
Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Jackie Macie had already condemned the disruption in Schoemanskloof, warning that the violence threatened business and tourism.
“Road closures are bad for business and bad for tourism. We cannot allow such barbaric acts to thrive,” Macie said.
He called for authorities to pursue not merely miners on the ground but the people controlling illegal-mining networks.
“We must arrest not only the zama-zamas on the ground, but also the kingpins behind these operations, regardless of who they are. Our people deserve to live in peace.”
Macie was expected at the latest crime scene on Thursday as investigators worked to establish what had happened and motorists were again confronted by disruption around Schoemanskloof.
For police, the evidence has accumulated with each passing day.
First there was gunfire.
Then bloodstains, two live rounds and an empty AK-47 magazine.
Then came the bodies.
- A second body was found near the N4 in Schoemanskloof amid a zama zama conflict, leading to the closure of the road section between Montrose and Crossroads.
- The security crisis began when suspected illegal miners exchanged gunfire around Mashobote on Tuesday, causing the initial closure of the N4.
- Police have opened a six-count murder case after discovering six bodies with gunshot wounds at Mashobote on August 29, suspected to be linked to rival illegal-mining groups.
- The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy the SANDF alongside police to combat illegal mining in Mpumalanga.
- Mpumalanga Community Safety MEC Jackie Macie condemned the violence, urging authorities to arrest not only illegal miners but also the kingpins controlling mining networks.
