ZAMA zamas in Florida, Joburg, engaged in a gun fight in broad daylight on Monday, 4 September, between Nadine and Anville Road up to the Main Reef.
Cops are investigating a case of two counts of attempted murder following the incident.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said: "It is reported that members of the crime prevention unit responded to a complaint of a shooting and as they approached, they were confronted by a shooting between two groups of alleged zama zamas.
"When the two groups saw the police, they started firing at the policemen. The police returned fire at the zama zamas who fled into the bushes."
Nevhuhulwi told Daily Sun that one zama zama was shot and wounded, and a 17-year-old teenager was also wounded during the crossfire.
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"Both were taken to hospital for medical attention," she said.
Nevhuhulwi said no one had been arrested and police are still investigating.
Meanwhile, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said during the ANC 2019 Manifesto Review at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday, 3 September that the province is under siege by zama zamas.
"We are under siege by criminals in our province. Please, comrade president, bring the firepower of the state. Be it the army or the police, they must go there and flush them out until the last person," Lesufi said.
Dr Zizamele Cebekhulu-Makhaza, president of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), said" "The illegal miners have been able to operate with impunity because there are too few police on ground.
"The South African Police Service has both the obligation and desire to stop and prevent crime of all kinds and has every intention to use everything in its arsenal to do so.
"More officers in the field would help in the fight against the plague of zama zamas, but there are obstacles at play. Another concern is that more officers will require additional training, equipment, salaries, and supporting infrastructure. For this, the government will have to increase funding for the police service," he said.
