A tailings dam collapse at Samancor Chrome's Dikwena operation near Brits on Thursday highlights the growing crisis of illegal mining in South Africa. Mining expert David van Wyk estimates over 34,000 irregular miners, known as zama zamas, are now operating across the country, causing damage that extends far beyond the mining sector. Johannesburg's electricity utility, City Power, has warned that underground excavation has compromised ground stability, putting substations, transformers, and transmission towers at risk of collapse. Miners routinely strip copper cabling, damage water pipes, and tunnel beneath roads, while acidic mine water from old shafts contributes to sinkhole formation beneath Africa's financial hub.