Gold Mining Industry | Zama Zamas

Johannesburg is known as the City of Gold because it sits on the biggest gold reserves in the world. It is also home to a thriving illegal gold mining industry that is devastating communities. There are an estimated 30,000 illegal gold miners in South Africa, known as “zama zamas” from the Zulu word for “take a chance”. Zama zamas can spend months at a time underground and are supported by an extensive supply and logistics chain that helps feed them underground, transport and sift the gold, and provide security from the gang violence above the surface. Seyi Rhodes discovers the precarious lives of the illegal miners and the South Africans who live in towns where crime is so rife that they are cut off from services and even become seen as no-go zones for police and ambulance crews.