Florida — A crime-fighting operation targeting illegal mining was held at the notorious Jerusalema informal settlement on Wednesday, April 17.
Police, private security companies, Community Policing Forum members, and members of AfriForum descended on the informal settlement from all directions on the day, effectively blocking off escape routes on Westlake Road, Albertina Sisulu Road, and Main Reef Road.
Their arrival at the scene set scores of people running to make their escape, and even with all escape routes blocked, the majority managed to get away as there were simply too many to catch.
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One suspect brandishing a plastic bag with what appeared to be a firearm inside, made a run into the bushes toward Main Reef Road, flinging the plastic bag far into the overgrown bush, with police and security officers in hot pursuit.
The suspect was caught, but police were unable to locate the discarded plastic bag in the dense bush.
A thorough search of the informal settlement revealed the extent to which illegal mining has taken root in this community.
The raid exposed numerous shacks that look like any other informal dwelling from the outside but consist of the inside of a deep hole, a horde of mining equipment and tools, bags of potentially gold-bearing sand and gravel, and even some that serve as smelting facilities.
One shack after the other was searched for any sign of illegal mining. Tools were confiscated which included spades, pendukas (crude hand-operated gold refining machines), stampers, gas bottles, and emptying hundreds of bags containing sand and gravel.
In the end, around 10 illegal immigrants were arrested and a large heap of illegal mining equipment was confiscated. No one was arrested for illegal mining since they did not have prohibited items in their physical possession at the time of their arrest.
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According to Florida Police Station Commander Colonel Amos Tsotsetsi, this operation is one of the station’s regular raids of this and other illegal mining hotspots.
“We conduct regular raids at Jerusalema and other illegal mining hotspots,” he said.
“This is evident in the drastic decrease we are seeing in illegal mining activity in Jerusalema. We saw in this latest raid that some of the illegal facilities have closed down.
“The community is becoming tired of the continuous raids and is starting to push out the criminals from among them.
“Nevertheless, we will continue making life difficult for the criminals until they decide to pack up and leave our area.”
