Amabherete, the special tactical response team has been deployed to Riverlea, West of Johannesburg, following police minister Bheki Cele's visit to the area yesterday. Riverlea was rocked by a community protest after five suspected zama zamas died during a shootout between rival illegal miners on Sunday. Last week, a resident was also shot when zama zamas exchanged fire with the police in the area. Residents are gatvol and demanded that the police pull their weight when it comes to dealing with zama zamas who terrorise their community. 

Ward councilor Theo Doyle said it was unfortunate Ernest Mangena (32) lost his life when he was driving home from church with his wife last week Tuesday. Doyle said It is alleged that a hail of bullets struck the couple's car but it only took one on the head to end Mangena's life. "Mangena's death is a depiction of what we are faced with on a daily basis. How many more people are supposed to die before illegal miners are permanently rooted out of our community?" 

Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the area on Monday following residents' demands that he must personally come and address them. Riverlea has had a heavy police presence since Tuesday morning with Amabherete patrolling the streets. "We are putting our heads on the block that within the next 24 hours this community here will know peace. Our focus is to restore law and order in this area. We cannot have a situation where communities live in fear. We are going to deal decisively with these criminals," Cele said. He added that specialised units are being brought into the area to ensure that the illegal miners are apprehended and put a stop to the illegal operations. Since May 2022, the SAPS established the Economic Infrastructure Task Teams (EITT) where twenty teams have been set up in hot spots to combat illegal mining, prevent damage to critical and essential infrastructure as well as extortion on construction sites.