NINE SEKHUKHUNE ILLEGAL MINING SUSPECTS REMANDED IN CUSTODY
POLOKWANE: Nine Illegal Mining suspects aged between 18 and 33 appeared before Sekhukhune Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 13 October 2023. They were remanded in custody until next Court appearance on 20 October 2023 for police further investigation and bail applications.
According to information Members of the Provincial Illegal Mining Task Team, Provincial Organized Crime Unit and Bokoni Protection Service personnel, through a disruptive operation, nabbed nine Zimbabwean national male suspects in Atok while mining chrome.
The suspects were arrested separately. The first suspect was arrested on Wednesday 11 October 2023, while driving a UD truck full of chrome on his way to deliver to Johannesburg. Without proof of mining, two suspects were arrested at the Atok mine. Six other suspects were apprehended the following day, Thursday 12 October 2023, at the Atok mine.
The following items were confiscated: 1 x UD truck, 6 x generators, 8 x jackhammers, and 7 x water pumps.
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, has welcomed the arrest and subsequent court appearance of the suspects. She further said that this will serve as a sign of the police’s attempts to uphold the law and stop these crimes.
Police Investigation is ongoing
