Natjoints Update: The Stilfontein Operation

POTCHEFSTROOM – On day two of operations, a total of 106 alive illegal miners were retrieved and arrested for illegal mining. 51 were certified dead.

A breakdown of those arrested per nationality is as follows:

Mozambicans: 67
Lesotho nationals: 26
Zimbabweans: 11
South Africans: 2

Arrests and Confiscations:

Over 1,576 illegal miners have been arrested before the extraction operation commenced. Those arrested include the following nationalities:

• 997 of the arrested are Mozambicans, 427 are Zimbabweans, 118 are Basotho nationals from Lesotho, 21 are South Africans while one is from Malawi and another one from Congo.

• 1540 illegal miners are still in police custody.

• 121 illegal miners have already been deported which include 80 mozambicans, 30 Basotho nationals, 10 Zimbabweans and one Malawian.

• 46 have already been found guilty of illegal mining, trespassing and contravening the immigration act. The court handed down a sentence of R12 000 or six months wholly suspended imprisonment sentence for five years on condition that they are not found guilty of similar crimes.

• Confiscated materials since the start of operations in Stilfontein (December 2023) include over 640 kg of gold-bearing material, 6.2 kg of refined gold, explosives, firearms, and cash amounting to R52.49 million seized.