Caption; Premier Ndlovu and the provincial officials inside one of the tunnels allegedly used for illegal mining
By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe and Kopano Dibakwane
Rampant illegal mining activities in the tourist-friendly small town of Pilgrims Rest (Thaba Chweu Local Municipality)were interrupted by a large team of law enforcement agencies, during Operation Vala Umgodi, led by Mpumalanga Premier, Mandla Ndlovu, accompanied by the MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison(DCSSL), Jackie Macie and the Acting Provincial Police Commissioner, Maj-Gen(Dr)Zeph Mkhwanazi, on Friday 6 September.
The unannounced operation was in line with a promise made by MEC Macie during a site visit to the area two weeks ago, in which he vowed to return and flush out the illegal miners who are said to be hailing from various countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Malawi.
Premier Ndlovu said Mpumalanga is the second largest province to receive tourists from outside countries and the prevalence of crime deters potential investors who feel threatened.
“We said as government that we are going to arrest without fear. Today we are here to deal with crime, especially construction mafias. I was not aware that we also have mining mafias. We are going to pay special attention and deal with this matter because we want to build the economy of this province. We will not accept these barbaric actions of people who come to Mpumalanga uninvited to terrorise the people of South Africa. Some of them respect their countries and we are going to push them back to their countries,” said Premier Ndlovu.
MEC Macie said the operation will be an ongoing process.
“ We’ve promised that we were going to come back and today we are here under this operation. Generally we are happy but this is not going to end today. We’ll come back unannounced again as we want to reclaim this space from the zama-zamas(illegal miners),” said Macie.
According to DCSSL, 16 suspects were arrested in connection with illegal mining activities and the equipment used in the alleged illegal mining activities were confiscated.
