Pretoria - The six men arrested for suspected illegal mining will appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court today.
The men were arrested in Thokoza, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday, police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said.
Three of the suspects are from Lesotho and the other three are South Africans.
“Their ages range from 33 and 35 and they have all been charged with illegal mining and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition,” Naidoo said.
The Chamber of Mines estimates that about 14 000 people are illegal miners, also known as zama-zamas in South Africa.
These miners enter mostly abandoned shafts, travelling as far as 4km underground, where they live for several days at a time, risking their lives for an income.
Illegal mining accounts for between 5% and 10% of yearly South African mining production, which in 2013 was just over R72 billion for gold and just under R63 billion for platinum group metals, according to the Chamber of Mines. – SAnews.gov.za
