Victims of Daggafontein Mine Raid Accuse Police of Downplaying Incident

The months following the tragic police raid on Daggafontein mine dump in Springs, South Africa, on August 26th have brought forth claims of police negligence and corruption. A trip to survivors of the raid by GroundUp journalists uncovered discrepancies between police claims and claims from survivors, pointing towards an attempted covering up of the realities of the raid.

What You Need to Know

On August 26th, South African police forces, accompanied by South African Defence Force (SANDF) personnel, undertook a raid on Daggafontein mine dump as part of operation 'Vala uMgodi', meaning 'closing the holes' in Nguni.

As the mine dump lay adjacent to a swamp, the miners, colloquially referred to as 'Zama Zamas', meaning 'to take a chance' in IsiZulu, oftentimes would flee into the swamp's reeds to evade security forces.

However, as the raid kicked off in the early hours of August 26th, the miners who had fled into the swamp's reeds found themselves engulfed in flames, with the Zama Zama's claiming the police had set the reeds on fire to drive them out from hiding.

"The soldiers wanted to kill us, and they succeeded. I've been an illegal miner since 2007, but I've never seen anything like this," said one illegal miner to local press outlet Scrolla Africa.

In the immediate aftermath of the raid, however, police claimed that forces returned to the swamp the next day to search for survivors, but "the search stopped at 11 p.m. because it was too dark and dangerous. We will keep an eye on the situation," said spokesperson Noxolo Kweza.

These claims were refuted by the area's residents, who claimed they contacted police the next day because screams could be heard from the swamp.

"We begged the soldiers to call for help, but they didn't care. Even when the police came back yesterday, they didn't bring divers or search the swamp for bodies," one resident said.