JOHANNESBURG -The government says it has no intention of upskilling Zama Zamas with artisanal mining skills.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe has shut down suggestions made by political parties that Zama Zamas be trained in order to cure South Africa of this illegal activity.
Mantashe, says illegal miners are mostly foreign nationals and training illegal miners will be depriving South Africans of the opportunity to be introduced into the small-scale mining sector.
Meanwhile, there are more than 6,000 holes that illegal miners use to access abandoned mines across the country.
Mantashe says closing the holes requires a lot of resources.