Among those arrested at the abandoned mineshaft in the Angelo informal settlement, on Thursday, November 12, were alleged gold miners from neighbouring countries, including Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Mining tools, including a generator, shovels, spades, picks, hammers, buckets, basins and wheelbarrows, as well as gold panning machines, were also seized in the sweeping crackdown on illegal mining.
According to Boksburg SAPS spokesperson Lieut Kwendzakwakhe Ngobese, the suspects were caught in the act and will appear in court “soon”.
The people in police custody include seven illegal immigrants, mostly Malawians, who were arrested during the operation.
The blitz follows a recent Advertiser investigation into a spike in homicides in the area.
The investigation revealed the illegal mining turf war is a possible reason for the escalating violence.
One illegal miner, a Zimbabwean who spoke under condition of anonymity, told this publication that there is an ongoing battle among Basotho, Zimbabwean, Mozambican and a few South African miners.
He said the fights between the rival groups for control of the mines happen on a daily basis, underground and on the surface.
Police, too, suspect that the string of deadly attacks are related to an illegal mining turf war.
According to Ngobese, although the motives for the killings remain unclear, it is believed that they might be related to illegal mining.
The Zimbabwean gold panner and a group of local women, who also scavenge pieces of gold in the area, told the Advertiser they sift out gold to make a living, adding that without it they and their families would starve to death.
They, however, admitted that the illegal activity had resulted in a turf war, as factions compete for the money the mining activity generates.
Meanwhile, concerned Angelo informal settlement community leaders have accused what they called a ‘few greedy businessmen’, who buy the gold from the panners, of perpetuating the problem, as they have created a market which encourages illegal mining.- @FanieFLK
Three more killed in illegal mining turf war
Illegal miners wage violent turf war
Turf war: Criminal gangs fighting for territory
