Sinkholes, scarred land and scapegoats: the scourge of illegal gold mining in Johannesburg

AI desk brief

Soaring gold prices are fueling a surge in illegal mining around Johannesburg, with zama zamas expanding into abandoned shafts and even draining water from local facilities. The article cites researchers saying about a tenth of South Africa’s gold production was being exported illegally in 2019, worth roughly $1bn, underscoring the scale of informal output and leakage from the formal supply chain.

The broader backdrop is a shrinking, deeper South African gold endowment, with the city claiming 40,000 tonnes still underground but much more expensive to recover. Officials say there were 6,100 derelict and ownerless mines and 1,170 unsafe openings in 2025, while experts argue sinkholes are driven more by formal industrial dewatering than by illegal miners alone.