Vanessa Abrokwah inspects the cracks in the wall of her house. (Alon Skuy)
Vanessa Abrokwah has lost count of the number of times she has had to repair the cracked walls of her Riverlea home.
Just metres from her home, 10km west of the Johannesburg CBD, illegal gold miners operate brazenly in a disused mineshaft.
Alongside the shaft stand white poles marking the route of the Transnet fuel pipeline, each with a board warning, in multiple languages, of the dangers lying 3m below the surface.
Abrokwah said the miners blasted beneath the pipe at least three times a week. "You hear the 'doof, doof, doof'."
Her family is terrified about the pipeline bursting. "If it does we are in the blast radius. We will be wiped out," she said.
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Vanessa Abnokwah speaks about the damage and cracks to her house that she believes are as a result of blasting by illegal miners who operate in a disused mineshaft near her Riverlea home. (Alon Skuy)
Some of the damage in Vanessa Abnokwah's Riverlea home as a result of illegal mining activities. (Alon Skuy)
Transnet employee Francois Malan stands next to a sign warning illegal miners about the dangers of blasting. The illegal miners operate in a disused mine shaf in Riverlea, west of Johannesburg. Running past the mine shaft is a Transnet fuel pipe line which if damaged could create problems for surrounding areas. (Alon Skuy)
An illegal miner at work in Matoliesville. The area has Transnet pipelines that run past it, which could explode should blasting from illegal mining rupture the pipelines. (Alon Skuy)
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