Operation Vala Umgodi in North West, aimed at curbing illegal mining, had by Wednesday seen the resurfacing of 1,004 illegal miners from underground in Orkney and surrounding illegal mining hotspots.
Police and soldiers began by blocking supplies of food, water and other necessities to the illegal miners last week. At the weekend, starving miners started resurfacing at Orkney and more than 550 had resurfaced by noon on Sunday.
Operations continued on Monday and more than more 140 illegal miners resurfaced at Margaret Shaft. The illegal miners included Mozambicans, Zimbabweans and Malawians.
Police continued to block all entry and exit points of disused and abandoned mines to force illegal miners to the surface.
North West police said 55 suspects arrested on Saturday appeared in court on Tuesday. “However, charges against the accused were withdrawn. They were then detained by immigration officials in terms of the Immigration Act, pending their deportation,” said police.
Other suspected illegal miners were expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
Acting national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya said at the weekend that Operation Vala Umgodi, which was launched in December last year, was yielding positive results across the country.
The operation has seen 13,691 suspects arrested in the seven provinces that are hotspots for these illegal mining activities by the end of October.
Vala Umgodi operations are being carried out in the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.
TimesLIVE
https://www.timeslive.co.za/authors/ernest-mabuza/
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