WATCH: Cops bring Makhulugama near West Village to its knees
The Red Ants, police and emergency services entered Makhulugama informal settlement this morning and arrested numerous suspects, believed to be illegal miners. They are also breaking down shacks and Makhulugama may soon be no more.
After months of fighting and begging, the residents of West Village and Krugersdorp might finally have a peaceful night’s rest after the big operation that was held in Makhulugama informal settlement today.
The Red Ants, the West Rand Police and the emergency services all flocked to West Village and Makhulugama to disband the informal settlement and the illegal operations happening there.
Read the initial article here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/386208/avoid-r28-toward-randfontein-due-zama-zama-violence/
Roads were closed earlier in the morning and traffic directed away from the entrances to the village, but on the inside was where the action was taking place.
The Cluster Commissioner, Major General Fred Kekana, explained that the Red Ants were brought in to break down the shacks in the settlement. Residents of the settlement have been moved to shelters in town and a piece of land has been allocated for others to rebuild their houses.
This comes after the informal settlement had allegedly been taken over by illegal miners in the past year. The miners are believed to have been living in the settlement while they raided, stripped and mined the mines around the area.
With this takeover came violent crimes and numerous gunfights, leaving the residents of not only West Village but the settlement as well, fed up with the attacks and alleged killings by the zama-zamas. Recently the residents decided to make themselves heard and held a protest outside West Village during which they blocked off roads and burned tyres.
“The residents asked us for help, some willingly saying they would relocate,” explained Brigadier Mashadi Selepe, the Visible Policing Commander for the West Rand District.
During the operation more than 100 illegal immigrants were arrested and weapons, illegal mining tools, explosives and numerous bags of gold-bearing material were confiscated.
John Barnard, West Village community leader, said that this is a win for them after fighting for many years.
It looks like the Makhulugama informal settlement will be broken down completely, and that hopefully the crime spree will come to an end.
Read the Krugersdorp News next week for more on this story.
