JOHANNESBURG - There are more than 6,000 holes that illegal miners use to access abandoned mines across the country.
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The issue of illegal mining has been in the spotlight for weeks.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe says closing the holes requires a lot of resources.
He said, "we must close the holes.""In Riverlea we've been directed to close at least seven holes, we redirected all the resources from MinTek to close the seven holes as an immediate work that we should do."
"We've got a lot of work in that regard."
"There's 6,001 holes of ownerless and derelict mines countrywide that include old the asbestos mines."
"So that is an issue that requires a lot of resources."