The case against 81 suspects who were arrested in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg over the weekend, has been postponed to Wednesday.
The suspects appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrates Court on Monday.
They were arrested following the gang rape of eight women who were part of a production crew shooting a music video. At this stage, none of the suspects have yet been linked to the rapes.
Many of them were nabbed on allegations of illegal mining, possession of explosives, stolen goods, illegal firearms and ammunition as well as contravention of the Immigration Act.
Out of the 81 suspects, 20 of them were juveniles.
Police say the film crew was working on site when the attack took place on Thursday near a mine dump in Krugersdorp.
According to police the gun-wielding attackers gang raped the women and robbed them of their belongings.
Meanwhile, outside court – scores of GBV activists and members of various political parties gathered to voice their concerns over the incident.
The video below is reporting on the court appearance:
Programmes to deal with crime
Meanwhile, police say there are mechanisms in place to deal with crime including illegal miners who are alleged to be responsible for the rapes of the women.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola addressed the media in Pretoria o Monday.
“We have established teams in provinces that have got mines in Free State, Northern Cape, North West, Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga. And there have been operations even two weeks ago, there was an operation that netted more than 200 Zama Zamas.”
But chairperson of the Gauteng Community Safety oversight committee in the Gauteng Legislature Alphina Ndlovana says the provincial police’s strategy to deal with Zama Zamas is lacking and needs improving.
“Their strategy is not convincing, we’ve requested them to come up with a better strategy which will be able to assist the communities that are residing next to the Zama Zamas.”
It is clear that a lot more resources, manpower, and proactive crime prevention strategies will be needed to deal with the scourge of gender-based crime and illegal mining.
The video below is a media briefing by the Police Ministry:
