The Stilfontein Regional Court has sentenced at least 87 illegal miners to a combined 696 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The men had pleaded guilty to charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances after their arrest in Orkney in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A join statement of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) explained that the illegal miners were arrested during a law enforcement operation which turned violent.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were arrested during an intelligence driven operation led by the Hawks\u2019 Serious Organised Crime Investigation, assisted by the Special Task Force and the District Illicit Mining Task Team. The operation was a culmination of months of surveillance after the illegal miners took control of a dormant shaft.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the operation, a shoot-out between the police and the illegal miners ensued, resulting in six illegal miners being fatally wounded and eight injured,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The operation also resulted in the seizure of illegal mining paraphernalia, gold bearing material, two mini buses, 11 firearms, some 4000 cartridges of ammunition and bags of food.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Provincial Head for the [Hawks], Major General Patrick Mbotho and the Director for Public Prosecutions in North West, Dr Rachel Makhari-Sekhaolelo lauded the exceptional work by the multi-disciplinary team that worked tirelessly on this case.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey further lauded Advocate Chris Kok from the [NPA] for the excellent work and dedication,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: South African Government News Agency<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Stilfontein Regional Court has sentenced at least 87 illegal miners to a combined 696 years imprisonment.The men had pleaded guilty to charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances after their arrest in Orkney in 2021.A join statement of the Di…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n