Illegal miners are called "zama zama" ("take a chance" in Zulu) and operate in abandoned mines in the mineral-rich country.

A standoff between police and illegal miners has gotten heated in South Africa. Reports say hundreds of illegal miners, who entered an abandoned mine in search of leftover gold, refuse to come out for ...

The South African government says it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to ...

The government is trying to starve more than 1,000 informal prospectors out of a shaft of the Buffelsfontein mine, which ...

Several hundred people are believed to remain in an illegal mine in South Africa after the government cut off vital supplies ...

Hundreds or even thousands of people are trapped in a gold mine in South Africa's North West Province. Trapped, that is, by authorities waiting to arrest them for illegal mining. Relatives have been ...

The miners are in a standoff with police, who have blocked their supplies of food and water and are trying to force them out ...

As competition for lithium resources heats up within the South African region, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania are gearing up ...

Authorities in South Africa have cut off supplies to nearly 4,000 illegal gold miners hiding underground, as the government ...

Illegal mining continues to be widespread in South Africa, where miners enter abandoned shafts to search for remaining ...

Several hundred people are believed to be in an illegal mine in South Africa, with the government refusing to help them in a ...