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A police van is pictured at a mine in Stilfontein where illegal miners are underground in this image captured on 25 November 2024.
Nineteen illegal mineworkers have been sentenced by the Stilfontein Magistrate’s court in the North West to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for five years for contravention of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
They were arrested in November and are part of close to 1 500 illegal miners who emerged from underground at a number of mine shafts in the area. Police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone says 14 of the convicts are from Lesotho, four from Mozambique, and one from Zimbabwe.
Mokgwabone says they were also sentenced for being in the country illegally.
“Each accused person was sentenced to six months imprisonment or a fine of R6000, which is wholly suspended for the period of five years on condition that the accused person is not convicted for contravention of Section 49(1)(a) read with section 1, 9(3) & (4) of Act No. 13 of 2002 (illegal immigrant – illegal entry) committed during the period of suspension. The “Vala Umgodi” operations in the Province continue to assert the authority of the state.”
