Wemmer Pan Road, near Rosettenville in Johannesburg, has been occupied by illegal gold miners. Photograph: James Oatway/The Guardian

There is no end in sight for the drivers of illegal mining, while police action appears ineffective

By Rachel Savage in Durban Deep

Cora Bailey has been encountering illegal miners ever since she first started treating injured animals in the townships around Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, in 1991. But as the price of gold has soared, so too has activity in the abandoned mine shafts that mark the area.