Locals rush one South African town to dig for 'gold' afta pesin find

Plenty pipo don gada dey dig up one property for di Gugulethu informal settlement, wey dey for di city of Springs, Ekurhuleni municipality for South Africa, as dem hear say gold dey for di land.

Springs na formerly a booming gold town, but dem close di mines dia several years ago because di depth of di shafts make operations uneconomical.

One resident for di former mining town of Springs claim say e find several nuggets while e dey dig one land dem dey use for cattle.

Dozens of pipo now don descend on di area dey dig up di fenced area wia di cows bin dey, hoping to strike it rich.

Dem dey pack sand into sacks wey dem go carry to dia houses to seive am in search of gold.

Di tori bin spread on top social media and within days, plenty pipo don crowd for di field, wey be somebody private property and start to dey dig hoping to find gold; some even claim say dem find.

Some of di pipo wey dey dig for di site tell BBC say dem actually find some gold and dem sell am for di black market.

Dangerous chemicals like mercury and sodium cyanide na wetin dem dey use to separate di gold from di ore.

"We know say dis na illegal sumtin. We want make govment to give us mining permits so we go fit work and pay tax," one man, wey no tok im name, tell BBC.

E explain say as father of two children e need to earn money to fit send dem go school and put food for di table.

Another man tell BBC say: "Dis na di only hustle wey we know. E don save many of us from being arrested for committing serious and violent crimes."

One gram of gold dey worth about $100, but di monthly minimum wage for South Africa na $368.

Many of di pipo wey dey dig for di site wen BBC tori pesin bin visit dia, na originally from di neighbouring Lesotho.

While visiting di site, BBC finds say some of di ground don become unstable.

Di mineral resources and energy department for South Africa don also release press statement wia dem warn say, "any mining activity conducted witout di required permits or mining rights, as prescribed by di Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, dey unlawful and constitute criminal offence".

"Unregulated excavation fit result in ground instability, placing nearby communities and particularly children at significant risk of injury or loss of life," di statement tok.

Dis no be di first time sometin like dis dey hapun for South Africa wia di unemployment rate dey as high as high as ova 30 percent.

For June 2021, more dan one thousand pipo bin rush to di village of KwaHlathi for KwaZulu-Natal province to search for diamonds, afta dem discover one kind shining stones for di area.

However, experts later confirm say di stones no be diamond but na quartz crystals wey not too get value.