WATCH | Alleged zama zamas tell Bheki Cele to deploy 'real police' at mining hotspots

A video of alleged zama zamas calling for police minister Bheki Cele to deploy “real police” at mining hotspots has been circulated on social media.

The video comes after Cele assured community members in Riverlea, Johannesburg, police would be deployed in the area and they should hold him accountable if they don’t see a change.

In the video, the men can be heard saying: “Let them send the policemen. They should come here. They go around calling themselves policemen and knocking, saying 'police, police, police'.”

Earlier this week, the bodies of five suspected foreign illegal miners with gunshot wounds were discovered in the area.

Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said officers from the tactical response team and public order policing unit have been deployed to monitor Riverlea and the nearby Zamimpilo informal settlement.

“Preliminary investigation suggests two rival groups of illegal miners were shooting at each in the area and that led to the death of five people,” he said.

Cele said apart from deploying amaberete, an operational plan will be put in place to “flush” illegal miners from Riverlea.

“We need to go down and find these guys where they are. We need to flush them out of their holes. We need to make sure they realise they cannot come back to interfere with the community here,” he said.

“There are amaberete we are leaving here, but it's not the end. We’ll reinforce them.”

TimesLIVE