Roodepoort a hotbed of crime
High crime levels in the Roodepoort policing precinct have necessitated additional high-density crime prevention operations.
Police are facing challenges of high levels of assault, property-related crime, robbery, business robbery and illegal mining in the Roodepoort region.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni confirmed this during another high-density crime prevention operation held under the auspices of Operation Shanela on Thursday, September 19.
The Roodepoort Record, on invitation from police, attended both the usual roadblock as well as an illegal mining operation.
Roodepoort police supported by their colleagues from Florida and various other law enforcement agencies held a roadblock along Adcock Street at Leratong Village, pulling over and searching hundreds of vehicles during the morning. The roadblock operation resulted in the arrest of 26 illegal immigrants and the recovery of seven vehicles.
The second leg of the operation focussed on illegal mining and police made their way to Durban Deep where they rushed a well-known illegal mining spot in the hopes of catching illegal miners (zama zamas) by surprise.
The extent of the mining operations was astounding, with many surprisingly large makeshift open-cast mines dotting the large stretch of open land behind Solomon Street.
Mthombeni says that police are making inroads in the fight against illegal mining, saying that their operations are aimed at being disruptive to the day-to-day operation of the mines, while investigations dealt with by the Hawks, are aimed at identifying and taking down this illicit industry’s kingpins.
He added that there are at least four sizeable projects underway, at least one of which where six suspects have been arrested and are being prosecuted. These are not the foot soldiers on the ground though.
“One of the worrying factors is that these people who are mining illegally are staying within the community and some are even intimately involved in the local community.”
During the operation, police officers showed Mthombeni around the various mining operations including one mine that, according to a police source, runs at least 800m underground.
