Violence and extortion by zama-zamas forced more than 400 families to flee the Sporong informal settlement in Randfontein to a community hall, where they live now under cramped and unhygienic conditions.
Thirteen days ago, more than 600 people left all their belongings behind, took their children, packed all they could carry and fled to the hall in the Randfontein CBD. There, they share two toilets one for men and one for women. They have no privacy and even have to bathe in front of others.
Residents said they had no choice but to flee Sporong because illegal miners regularly invaded their homes, assaulted them and demanded cash. They also said there would be prolonged gunfire in the area from the zama-zamas, sometimes lasting hours.
