CRIMINAL CHROME (Part 1): Illegal chrome mining — An aerial view into the void of state failure

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> The threats are many: collapsing property values, the fouling of prime agricultural land, the siphoning and polluting of scarce water supplies, and costs for legitimate mining operations and losses for the Treasury as the profits from illicit enterprises flow to transnational organised crime syndicates.

Rising from the soil like serpents with their snake-like coils, the illicit chrome-washing plants that have become a venomous presence between Rustenburg and Brits are jarringly visible from the air and stand as cold-blooded testimony to the consequences of state failure.

The plants feed off scaly mining operations that are also hiding in plain sight. These include the pit near the Nkaneng informal settlement where 14 illegal chrome miners were killed on 10 August when the ground above them collapsed.

When Daily Maverick flew in a helicopter over the region in late July, a bird’s eye view revealed lorries waiting for their loads near the plants while big yellow machines plied their trade.

Elsewhere, mounds of grey rubble next to gouged holes in the earth provided a stark contrast to the surrounding ochre landscape – a tell-tale signature of illegal chrome mining.

Community activists in the area have painstakingly documented 66 such operations between Rustenburg and Brits. But the Department of Waters Affairs and Sanitation (DWS) said in response to Daily Maverick’s queries that it had only issued 16 water-use licences for such operations in the region – a glaring discrepancy.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment did not respond to requests for comment about any environmental impact assessments it had approved for such operations in the area. The Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) also did not offer comment.

“The Bojanala Platinum District is overrun with illegal mines and chrome-wash plants. They pop up faster than we can object,” Cheryl Phillips, a former DA MP who has been leading the community challenge to this growing menace, told Daily Maverick.

“The latest notification was for a change of zoning, with mining just tagged on at the end. When we went to submit objections to the rezoning at the Rustenburg Local Municipality, we were informed that each objection must be accompanied by the objection fee, which is currently R2,955.64.