No more digging for illegal miners

Illegal mining is an issue that the Limpopo Police keeps a close eye on and arrests are made almost every week.

On Thursday 13 June, a team from the Police’s Operation Vala Umgodi arrested several suspected illegal miners after visiting illegal mining sites in the Mahwelereng policing area near Mokopane, according to a police report.

At the first site they visited, there were clear signs of illegal mining, but no miners or vehicles usually used in illegal mining activities were found.

At a second site near Tshamahansi, a man was found loading river sand onto his bakkie. He was arrested on the spot.

At a third site, the police caught four more men loading sand. The men started running when they saw the police and only one was apprehended. The owner of the truck is known to the police.

The men will appear before Mahwelereng Magistrate Court soon.

In another similar operation in the Sekhukune District, a team of the Police, members of the Defence Force and others collaborated with private security companies to hit illegal miners’ stockpiles.

The police found tons and tons of chrome waiting for trucks to collect it. The police also recovered a generator, electrical cable, a wheelbarrow and a drill bit used to excavate chrome ore.