City of Ekurhuleni hopes to maintain stability it has managed to restore in Plastic City

The City of Ekurhuleni said that it hopes to maintain the stability it has managed to restore in Plastic City, an illegal trading zone in Brakpan.

The land has been illegally occupied for over a decade, with widespread unlawful trading taking place.

Makeshift structures, many of which conceal entrance holes made by zama zamas, cover the area, some serving as homes for what the metro describes as undocumented foreign nationals.

Due to recent violent clashes between rival zama zama groups, the city has intervened through a series of eviction operations.

City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said: "We had to deal with informal traders who are actually illegal immigrants at the same time. There is a lot of mining operations that are taking place here. You find that there's a shack and the shack inside is actually an entrance hall into the defunct mining shaft."