Over 1,000 Illegal Miners Arrested in South Africa
BARBERTON – More than 1,000 illegal miners have been arrested in a week-long police operation in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.
The police targeted secret mining activities near the village of Barberton, close to the borders with Eswatini and Mozambique. Many of the arrested miners are also illegal immigrants.
Police spokesman Donald Mdhluli said the operation began on Monday and is still going. He added that more people could be arrested because some illegal miners are still underground. “As they are coming out, they have been taken,” he said.
The mine where the illegal mining was happening is called Sheba Mine. It is owned by Barberton Mines. The company said that earlier this year, they had to let workers go because the mine was not making money. But later, they found out that illegal mining was still going on underground.
“Food and supplies were going to the illegal miners underground,” said Barberton Mines in a statement. “We had to stop it. That’s why we worked with the police and our security.”
Police said that, so far, no one has died in this operation.
Last year, a similar operation near the town of Stilfontein ended in tragedy, when at least 90 illegal miners died before the illegal mine was closed.
In Barberton, police used the same plan — they surrounded the mine to stop supplies from getting in, which forced the illegal miners to come out.
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