Two arrested for illegal sand mining in Klein Letaba River

TZANEEN – Two men were arrested on Tuesday evening for illegal sand mining in the Klein Letaba River near the Dzumeri area.

Police were deployed to the area around 17:00 to monitor trucks heading to illegal mining sites along the river.

This action followed a tip-off regarding ongoing illegal sand mining activities on the riverbank.

The trucks were reportedly driving into the area to be loaded with sand, a practice that is commonly done in Giyani without proper permits.

Acting on this intelligence, members of the Crime Intelligence Unit, together with the Mopani Illegal Mining Task Team, moved to prevent further exploitation of the river’s natural resources through Operation Vala Umgodi.

To ensure the suspects did not escape, police tactically approached the mining site and blocked all possible exits, preventing them from evading arrest or fleeing with the keys to the machinery used for illegal mining.

During the arrest, an excavator used to load sand, and a tipper truck were impounded, while two male suspects aged 26 and 43 found at the site were arrested for mining sand without the proper permit documentation.

The two suspects appeared before the Giyani Magistrate’s Court facing charges of illegal sand mining.

The arrest highlights ongoing concerns about the environmental impact of unregulated sand mining activities happening in the Giyani area, driven by the demand for construction materials.

This prompted the local municipality to plan for the introduction of a sand mining bylaw that would monitor sand mining activities in Giyani.

“We are in the process of drafting a bylaw, which will be presented to the public for input. If the bylaw is accepted and approved, we will then proceed to have it gazette into law, which will govern sand mining activities in our municipality,” said Clr Cedrick Baloyi, the head of LED in Giyani, earlier in March this year.