Chairperson, hon Minister and hon colleagues, in a recent interview with the Mail & Guardian published on 15 June 2009, Sipho Mahabane, who has been involved in this activity for four years, admitted that, and I quote: "There'll always be a demand for gold on the black market". He continues by submitting that gold smugglers from Limpopo and foreign gold smugglers, mainly from Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and local businesspeople control the illegal mining operations in the area. He says that the kingpins operate syndicates which include legal miners, shift managers and security guards. These kingpins regularly visit the now notorious G Hostel.
That is according to Mahabane, who is one of the thousands who are involved in a R10 billion industry. Taking Mahabane's admission as a true reflection and synopsis of the daily life of an illegal miner, the purpose of the visit to Welkom on 7 July was to assess the unacceptable situation, which includes the tragic death of many, but also the loss of millions of rands of revenue to the state. It is necessary, Chairperson, to ask three critical questions. Firstly, who and where is the market for this R10 billion activity? Secondly, what is the role of the formal mining sector and mining houses in this illegal activity? Thirdly, why can't the notorious G Hostel be decriminalised? The recommendations of the committee, supported by Cope, certainly strive to answer these questions and challenges.
It is, however, necessary to add to these recommendations by suggesting that a specialist unit of the SAPS be considered. It seems that the SAPS is involved and, in some instances, highly infested, regarding these investigations and activity.
This is also applicable to the approach regarding the G Hostel, and the inability to decriminalise the alleged bastion of criminality in Welkom and in the Free State.
Chairperson, it's necessary that the hon Minister, the Cabinet and government must seriously engage and also come up with suggestions and recommendations with regard to how to address this unacceptable situation. The one issue that needs to be addressed is the quantum of these activities. I heard hon Adams speak about R10 million, the Minister spoke about R5,6 billion, and our activity indicates R10 billion. But we know hon Adams by now. He always gets confused by a zero here or a zero there. [Laughter.] But we don't blame you for that. Chairperson, we accept his chairpersonship, and we want to thank him for taking us with; it is not always that Cope has the privilege to travel with the ANC. We are always sidelined.
Chairperson, in conclusion, Cope is supporting this report, and we trust that these recommendations submitted by the committee will not only stop the illegal mining activity in Welkom, but also in the rest of South Africa, including the diamond and the platinum industries. I thank you. [Applause.]