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Police Minister Bheki Cele says specialised units would be deployed to Riverlea south of Johannesburg where so-called Zama Zamas are running amuck.
The Ministry said Cele led a high-level delegation of senior police officers to the area on Monday, to assess the local police’s responses to illegal mining there as well as other crime challenges reported by the local community.
The Ministerial visit followed a reported gunbattle in the area over the weekend between rival illegal mining gangs, which left at least five people dead.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said Minister Cele engaged with community leaders and locals to assure them that police were “constantly devising strategies and operational plans to combat illegal mining operations in various provinces.”
She said the specialised units are being brought in to ensure we apprehend these illegal miners and put a stop to these illegal operations.
“Our focus is to ensure law and order is restored in this area. We cannot have a situation where communities live in fear, we are going to deal decisively with these criminals.”
Mathe also said that between 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, 1 199 illegal miners were arrested including 100 South Africans, 124 Zimbabweans, 232 Basotho nationals from Lesotho, and 79 Mozambicans.
She said police also seized “R1.8 million rand, 9 991 rounds of ammunition, 177 vehicles, 7 trucks, 771 digging tools, 5 TLBs, 233 phendukas, and 771 digging tools were seized amongst other items.”
