The Vala Umgodi multidisciplinary task teams have conducted operations in Limpopo, resulting in the arrest of 14 undocumented foreign nationals and three individuals engaged in illegal sand mining between 4 and 5 January 2025.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), 14 suspects, aged between 19 and 45, were arrested for violating the Immigration Act.
Four were apprehended in Thohoyandou, in the Vhembe District, and 10 in Westernburg, in the Capricorn District.
In addition, three suspects, aged between 30 and 45, were nabbed in Apel, in the Sekhukhune District, for loading sand illegally.
“These disruptive operations, conducted in collaboration with the South African National Defence Force, targeted illegal mining sites linked to gold-bearing minerals, chrome, and sand extraction,” SAPS said in a statement.
In addition, seven individuals were each issued fines for selling expired food in Tynmine, in the Waterberg District.
The arrested suspects are set to appear before the respective magistrate's courts soon.
SAnews reported that ongoing Vala Umgodi operations in the Bojanala Platinum and Dr Kenneth Kaunda Districts continue to bear fruit after police arrested six male suspects in Hartbeespoortdam in the North West on Wednesday last week.
Between 30 December 2024 and 3 January 2025, 12 illegal miners were arrested for illegal mining, trespassing, and contravention of the Immigration Act in Stilfontein.
In the last three months, over 1 000 illegal miners or zama zamas have emerged from an abandoned Stilfontein mine, where it is believed that hundreds more are still underground. – SAnews.gov.za
