21 October 2026
Verse
You want the job, the boss man
said, you have to go down there.
We looked down that umgodi
he smiled, said, don’t worry,
down there the gold is everywhere
and the work’s not hard, you’ll see.
Fifty went down yesterday
the money’s good, you’ll see.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
Verse
I looked down that deep black hole
and I saw the twisted steel.
You climb on there, the boss man said,
the rope will take you down.
Hang on tight, you’ll be OK
you can start the job today.
Others will show you what to do,
I’ll look after you, Zama-Zamas.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
Verse
I thought, there’s nothing for me here;
few jobs for people now.
The gangs are everywhere,
the cops can’t help you anyhow.
The tsotsis, they steal anything
The police are far away.
You lie bleeding in the street
and hear the sound of running feet.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
Verse
I been down here three months now,
I never been so scared.
The food comes down here on the rope
and my body stinks so bad.
Now, I have a new friend,
he’s umXhosa, like me.
He says he’s only forty-three
but he looks like seventy.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
Verse
My new friend, he died today.
They put his body in a bag
and I never saw it go.
I’m getting weaker
by the day, my skin is looking grey.
I pray to see the sun again
but I can’t get away,
so things look bad for me.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
Verse
I’m a Zama Zama now:
that’s all I’ll ever be.
Seven months I’m down this hole
and that gangster, he owns me.
Now, I’m living in my grave,
so if I die down here today
someone please go tell
my wife; she lives in Dikeni.
Chorus
Zama zama, take a chance and hustle for that gold.
Zama zama, go down now
before you get too old.
I’m a Zama Zama now:
that’s all I’ll ever be.
Seven months I’m down this hole
and that gangster, he owns me.
Johan Friedrich (Anthony Francis) 2026
A note from the lyricist
I was born in Zimbabwe but I grew up in South Africa. For two years I worked underground on the gold mines of the west Rand. In 2023 I became aware of the issue of illegal mining in South Africa - the Zama Zamas - through an excellent article in The New Yorker magazine. I learned that most Zama Zamas are recruited and controlled by gangsters. I have found no music describing the plight of the Zama Zamas as the victims that many so obviously are. I think of the song as a ballad lament, maybe a capella, with a bass male voice and harmony in the African tradition. I grieve that men are driven to find work as Zama Zamas by climbing down the supports of a mile-deep vertical shaft. But the main idea is to tell the story of the Zama Zamas themselves as the human tragedy it is.
