Thugs arrested after attack on mine facility
Four people, including a police officer, were arrested after an attack on a facility at Sibanye-Stillwater's Driefontein mine last week.
The problems started when one of the mine’s security officer arrived at the Assay Lab at 20:55 on Monday 17 July. A group of thugs started shooting at his vehicle and he was forced to drive to the area of the shaft to avoid the attack.
The security officer was then informed by colleagues in their control room that there was about 20 unknown African men at the main gate on their way to the Assay Lab.
Some were already busy cutting the main gate open to gain access to the building.
A shootout then ensued between some of the mine’s security officers and some of the thugs. The thugs soon realized that they were surrounded and they started fleeing in all directions. During the process the mine security officers managed to arrest four of them.
They had luckily not been able to get access to the Assay Lab but petrol bombs, explosives and firearms of which the serial numbers had been filed off, including AK47s, were found at the scene.
The spokesperson for the Hawks, Col Kathelo Mogale, says that another two suspects were arrested in Khuma and Stilfontein in connection with the attack the next day.
The suspects are between the ages of 29 to 39 years old and all appeared in the Fochville Magistrates Court on charges of armed robbery and attempted murder last week. One of the suspects is a member of SAPS crime intelligence.
