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South Africa’s Chrome Wealth Fuels a Deadly Underground Economy

From Al Jazeera · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Fourteen miners, most believed to be undocumented migrants, died when a soil wall collapsed at a disused mining site near Rustenburg on August 13.
  • The disaster highlighted the dangers of illegal mining around South Africa’s abandoned shafts, where vulnerable workers feed a lucrative chrome trade.
  • Experts say criminal networks control equipment, transport and access to buyers, while miners face the greatest risks.

A wall of soil collapsed in seconds at a disused mine near Nkaneng, outside Rustenburg, killing 14 miners. Most were believed to be undocumented migrants. Lerothodi Nale, a migrant from Lesotho who escaped, said the earth “swallowed a dozen” before he ran to alert nearby security guards.

Nale later left the scene without a passport, fearing arrest. North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arthur Adams said more miners could still be trapped underground.

It happened in a flash, and the earth swallowed a dozen.

· Lerothodi NaleA migrant from Lesotho described escaping the collapse near Nkaneng.

The disaster has exposed the dangerous economy beneath South Africa’s chrome wealth. Migrants, unemployed former mineworkers and criminal groups converge around abandoned and inactive sites, where illegal extraction feeds a lucrative mineral trade.

The disused mines are sitting graves with no geologists to confirm if rocks are still stable down there.

· Tapuwa NhachiThe metals governance expert described the dangers of abandoned mine sites.

Rustenburg lies above the Bushveld Igneous Complex, which contains large deposits of chrome and platinum-group metals. South Africa is the world’s largest chrome producer and exporter, and much of its ore enters global supply chains, particularly China’s stainless steel industry.

Chrome attracts illegal operators because deposits often lie closer to the surface, making extraction cheaper than deep underground mining. “The disused mines are sitting graves with no geologists to confirm if rocks are still stable down there,” metals governance expert Tapuwa Nhachi told Al Jazeera. She said fatalities in abandoned mine holes occur almost every month.

Not a month goes without fatalities in abandoned mine holes.

· Tapuwa NhachiNhachi warned that deaths in abandoned mine workings remain frequent.

The government has announced programmes to rehabilitate abandoned mines and close dangerous shafts, but critics say the response falls far short of the challenge. Experts say profits gather around those who control equipment, transport routes and buyers, while miners bear the greatest danger.

For criminal networks, it becomes easier to extract, process and move the ore into supply chains.

· Shamiso MuparaThe environmental remediation expert explained why shallow chrome deposits attract illegal operators.
About this summary

Originally published by Al Jazeera in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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