Police have been deployed to the rural village of KwaMachi in KwaZulu-Natal, hoping to restrict access to a quarry that has become the epicentre of a gold rush. Hundreds desperate to strike it rich have descended on the quarry‚ searching for what they believe are seams of gold running through the hillside. The village‚ 200km south of Durban‚ is abuzz with talk of the quarry now dubbed "Marikana". On Wednesday riot police ran out lengths of barbed wire around the site‚ but were unable to hold back hundreds of villagers intent on mining the shale rock face. They‚ alongside people from as far afield as Durban‚ have rushed to the village as gold fever spreads. Police spokesperson Capt Nqobile Gwala said that two people were hurt on Tuesday during a landslide at the mining site.
"They were rushed to hospital and we have not opened any case. We have deployed officers to the scene to restrict access and keep people safe‚" she said. However‚ police seemed overrun by the throngs of pro...
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