Families of Boksburg gas leak victims accuse police of working with zama zamas
Less than a week since the Boksburg gas leak disaster, community members at the Angelo informal settlement say illegal mining has resumed.
BOKSBURG - Families of the people who died as a result of the Boksburg gas leak have accused police in the area of working with the illegal miners.
Last week, 17 people died and at least 12 were hospitalised when suspected zama zamas mistakenly released nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere.
It’s suspected that the zama zamas were trying to pry open the cylinder containing the harmful gas in order to use it for refining gold.
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Less than a week since the Boksburg gas leak disaster, community members at the Angelo informal settlement say illegal mining has resumed.
January Chiure, who lost six of her family members in the incident, said that the suspected zama zama’s returned to the scene of the crime to collect items that were not confiscated by police.
Hortencia Makamu recently got released from hospital after she inhaled nitrogen oxide from the gas leak however her husband, Ricardo Makamu died.
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) July 11, 2023
Hortencia wants to bury her husband in Mozambique but doesn’t have the money to. TCG pic.twitter.com/Icqeiqtyln
She said that she had no hope of getting justice.
"It's all the same. Dying is permanent. My child is dead so it's all the same. Even if they are arrested, they will be released because the police eat with them. They will take them to jail and in two weeks, they will be back here at Angelo."
Residents have also told Eyewitness News that the permanent police presence promised by the Gauteng government only lasted one day, with their only notable action being the raid of a local tavern.
