Cluster police crack down on zama-zama’s

The West Rand Cluster Police took a stand against illegal mining when they launched an operation to clamp down on illegal miners during the afternoon of Thursday, 24 November.

Unfortunately, the suspects evaded arrest as they fled the scene in various directions when they saw the police approaching from a distance. Police continued to confiscate and remove all the equipment that was used for illegal mining activities. Some of the equipment that was seized by the police included steel buckets, electric cables and gas cylinders.

“Such operations will be conducted more often to ensure that illegal mining activities are a thing of the past on the West Rand.

Whenever they are in place, lives are lost as a result of rivalry among the operators because of some kind of power struggle. In addition, some of them end up being buried underground. We must therefore intervene and put a stop to such operations,” said the West Rand Police Cluster commander, Major General Anna Mateisie.

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