Close to 600 illegal Miners have been arrested in North West: Image: Herald Live
(The Post News)- A starving number of 565 illegal miners were apprehended in Orkney, North West, with a shocking 225 surfacing on Saturday and 340 more on Sunday.
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The men who were in desperate need of food and water were flushed out in operation, Vala Umgodi, led by the police and members of the defense force.
The North West Police have reported that with the number of the resurfaced illegal miners, thousands more are suspected to still be underground without food, water, or any essential supplies, as the teams led by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Defence Force (SANDF) have sealed off any known escape routes.
The acting police commissioner, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, said the operation was showing a lot of positive results across the country.
“We are strictly monitoring the situation that is currently taking place in the North West province, and there will be no backing down until all the illegal miners resurface and are arrested. Since its inception in December 2023, more than 13,691 miners have been arrested in the seven provinces that are known to be hotspots for illegal mining.R5 million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million have been seized in the search operation,” said Sibiya.
The miners are reportedly facing charges ranging from possession of gold-bearing material, breaching the immigration act, and illegal mining, among others, and a number of them are expected to make their first appearance in court today.
In the fall of last week, the SAPS and SANDF members stopped community members coming from and around the abandoned mine shafts in Orkney from delivering food, water, and other necessities to illegal miners, many of whom are allegedly Mozambicans and Basotho nationals.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said, “We are definitely continuing with the Vala Umgodi operation not only in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, but we are also going to have the operation in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, which is in Rustenburg.”It is believed that some of the illegal miners have been underground for over a year.
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