VIDEO: Nursery school at risk of collapse as zama zamas infringe on Limpopo community

BURGERSFORT - With South Africa now poised for its seventh general elections, Eyewitness News has taken to the streets across the country, feeling the pulse of the nation, as citizens prepare for the national and provincial polls.

We start our coverage this week in Limpopo, where residents of the Fetakgomo Local Municipality live side by side with zama zamas.

An illegal mining syndicate has set up shop in the area known for its rich minerals, leaving communities reeling as they make do with life amid mass trenches and underground tunnels dug by the unlicensed miners.

Bulldozers and excavators are a common sight in Atok Village as zama zamas go about their business searching for mineral deposits.

Sounds one only expects to see and hear at mining operations are happening right at the doorsteps of those who call Atok Village, outside of Burgersfort in Limpopo home.

Even as one drives on the R37 highway, the main artery connecting Polokwane to Nelspruit, illegal mining activity cannot be missed.

Expensive digging machines have not only left trenches but have created artificial hills along the route.

Going further into the village, one is greeted by even bigger machines designed to go beneath the earth’s surface.

While the zama zamas are looking to make a quick buck, the psychological cost of their activities weighs heavy on the minds of Atok’s inhabitants, whose homes are nestled between furrows, big holes, and atop what has now become underground tunnel networks.

Seventy-one-year-old cattle farmer James Lesufi says his life is one of anguish as he navigates daily chores from a home surrounded by trenches.

The disbelief of his living arrangement shows on his face, with him constantly shaking his head as he talks of his encounters with the zama zamas.

“I’d often hear machines digging tunnels under my house, and when I tried to approach them, they would run into their underground tunnels. I think they couldn’t bear facing me because they know very well that they are destroying my father’s home.”

His neighbor, Constance Kopa, a 56-year-old who eagerly opened her doors to Eyewitness News, also shared her thoughts on the impact of illegal mining on her home.

“We’re currently in a messy situation because we’re not safe, our families are not safe either. If it ever rains heavily, our home might get plunged into these trenches.”

NURSERY SCHOOL IN THE FIRING LINE

What scares this community the most is the fate that awaits the Mabulela Nursery School, a place of learning abounding with the cheerful sounds of toddlers.

The nursery school finds itself in a vulnerable spot, with little ones attending class every day despite the great risk that this building could one day fall into the sinkhole that has developed next to it.

Residents have no choice but to make do with such fears, as efforts on their part and law enforcement have borne little fruit.

Community leader Makalakatje Phasha says attempts to thwart the mining cartel have been unsuccessful.

“We are in a serious predicament. We don’t even know who can resolve the situation because the police are the people that really provide security to the residents. If they can’t provide us with that security, then maybe the community must start taking a stand on this matter.”

The Mineral Resources Department said it would continue conducting raids with law enforcement authorities in a bid to rid the area of the illegal mining syndicate working here.