𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟳 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭. With the thousands of ownerless and abandoned mines dotting the South African landscape, countless men and women work as illegal zama zamas, risking life and limb to eke out a meagre existence from the ground. Between crumbling mine shafts, falling rock and rival gangs, there is little security or hope of a real future in working this way. But from the Pongola region of KwaZulu-Natal, on the border of the Ithala Game Reserve, the Klipwal Gold Mine holds out promise that things could work differently. Carte Blanche investigates a cooperative model that the mine’s owners and local zama zamas have adopted, bringing not only peace to the conflict-ridden property, but economic advancement for the miners.