Pressure on illegal miners continued to mount as police raided a section of Matholesville on Thursday, 5 March. The section of the informal settlement was reported to be a hub for storing illegal mining equipment and filtering mined rocks.
Police arrived on scene shortly before 11am to find a mostly desolate site. No illegal miners were in the vicinity but numerous hand-made implements used to separate minerals from mined rock were found. No weapons were found but several drums used for heating and breaking rocks, as well as pans used for sifting were discovered.
Roodepoort Police spokesperson, Captain Juanita Yorke confirmed, “Under the command of Captain Rababalela, 11 Roodepoort Police members and nine JMPD officers conducted a search and seizure at an illegal mining operation at Matholesville Sector 4”.
No arrests were reported but the implements were confiscated. Police are committed to their efforts to curb the growth of illegal mining and the violence associated with it.
