Boksburg gas leak — residents live in fear as illegal miners get back to work

Residents of the Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg, the scene of a deadly gas leak last week, say they are living in fear as illegal miners are getting back to work. 

“Just last night, I was shouting at some of them because they were trying to get something over my fence. I was scared to go out,” said one resident, Amancio Mucumbe.

Mucumbe, who arrived from Mozambique nine months ago, lives with a relative and makes a living by selling vegetables in the street. 

Another resident, Lerato Mofolo, said, “The only time I will feel safe is when the open shafts they talk about are sealed. Because if the shafts are not sealed, they will continue their operations and endanger our lives.”

Seventeen people died on 5 July after inhaling toxic gas that is believed to have leaked from a cylinder used by zama zamas (illegal miners) to process gold-bearing material.

Gauteng Police Commissioner Elias Mawela visited the area last week and the police uncovered a number of makeshift mining operations in shacks where people live. Many of the shacks had been abandoned by their owners, who apparently feared arrest.

An aerial view of the Angelo Informal Settlement on 5 July 2023 in Boksburg, South Africa. It is reported that sixteen people died at the informal settlement because of suspected gas inhalation after a gas cylinder carrying nitrate oxide leaked. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Residents of the Angelo Informal Settlement at the scene of a suspected gas leak on 6 July 2023 in Boksburg, South Africa. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

• Establish a specialised well-resourced and dedicated mining police task force focused on mining-related crime.


• Make urgent changes to the law to define illegal mining as a recognised criminal activity with strict penalties.


• Improve crime intelligence to ensure the leaders of the criminal syndicates behind illegal mining are arrested and prosecuted.


• Engage with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy about how to deal with 6,100 derelict and ownerless mines as well as old mine dumps in innovative ways to curtail criminal activities at these sites.


• Expedite the inclusion of artisanal and small-scale miners in the formal economy. This does not include legalising illegal miners who are engaged in criminal activities.