Illegal miners thought they had circumvented the law by disguising their operations as shacks, but they were sorely mistaken.
Today, Tuesday 24 March Roodepoort Police members belonging to the Crime Prevention Unit busted open and demolished ‘mining shacks’ to the left of Matholesville Park. Their operation in the area started at around 7.15 am after they had performed similar operations in Sol Plaatje from 6 am.
According to Colonel André Laing who led the previous mining bust in Matholesville in February their mining has become more sophisticated.
“Before you could spot illegal mining operations from a mile away; they’ve become used to regular police intervention and have come up with this clever scheme to hide what they’re doing,” Laing told the Record.
The monetary value of the illegal mining equipment and dagga seized during the bust have not yet been calculated since the operation will only conclude this afternoon. Among the equipment was panduka bins, buckets and pipes with steel balls at the end, used to grind pebbles.
“Hose pipes are illegally connected to municipal water and water flows freely into their mining shacks,” Laing said.
“This water is used to clean the pebbles.”
The unit was equipped with a police Nyala vehicle that was used to run down and pull down the shacks to demolish them.
It has not yet been confirmed how many illegal miners were arrested during the operation.
