‘No link between firearms discovered in Stilfontein and ones stolen from police stations recently’

Police Minister Bheki Cele says the firearms discovered during the arrest of 20 suspected illegal miners in Stilfontein in the North West, are not linked to the ones stolen from police stations recently.

The Devon Police Station in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, was robbed of its firearms last Wednesday, bringing the total number of SAPS stations that have been robbed of their weapons to eight this year. Cele says most of the weapons that were found in the police raid in Stilfontein on Monday are from outside the country.

“Our information does tell us that there is a country not very far from us that is supplying these AKs, maybe it’s not good to speak about a specific country at the present moment – but you can see even the rest of the people, the big number of the people we arrest they come from a certain country. Out of the 20 that we arrested, 13 of them come from one country, I mentioned that they come from Lesotho -13 of them, then six from SA, one from Zimbabwe and one from eSwatini,” says Cele.

#sapsHAWKS Minister of Police, Gen Bheki Cele, #SAPSNPC Gen Fannie Masemola and National Head of #Hawks Lt Gen Godfrey Lebeya, visited an abandoned mine where 20 zama zamas were arrested yesterday in Stilfontein. #IllegalMining NP https://t.co/uqILYJxGhn pic.twitter.com/YAaWoMOH6u

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 11, 2022

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy welcomes arrest of 20 illegal mining suspects

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy welcomed the arrest of 20 suspects alleged to have been involved in illegal mining operations in Stilfontein in the North West.

Twenty four firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and cash were also seized during the operation led by the Hawks. The department added that illegal mining is a criminal activity that not only impacts the economy but also compromises national security.

Department spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi says, ”It is for this reason that the Department of Mineral Resources supports the efforts of the law enforcement agencies and mining industry stakeholders to eliminate illegal mining. Therefore we commend the collaboration between the Hawks and SAPS for a successful bust of a such serious  criminal operation.”

The Police Ministry says it is only through a concerted effort with other stakeholders that illegal mining can be curbed. The police management led by Minister Bheki Cele visited Stilfontein in the North West, where twenty (20) suspected illegal miners were nabbed by the police.

Cele says, ”Minister Gwede Mantashe will have to play a very big role, together with Home Affairs, because some of the people will have to be taken back, those that have not committed crime and owners of the mines will have to come on board in terms of rehabilitation of these mines.”

#sapsHAWKS The 24 recovered firearms will be sent for ballistic testing, some of which were stolen during house robberies. #IllegalMining NP https://t.co/uqILYJxGhn pic.twitter.com/Yw1CJNjLUn

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 11, 2022