Police in the North West have arrested 225 zama zamas during Operation Vala Umgodi.
Provincial police spokesman Brigadier Sabata Mokgwaabone said the arrests came after the zama zamas surfaced from underground in Orkney due to starvation and dehydration.
He said that the majority of those arrested include South Africans, Mozambicans, and Basotho nationals.
“These 225 illegal miners are part of others believed to be hundreds, if not a thousand illegal miners who are stuck underground with no food, water, and necessities because the Vala Umgodi teams led by the SAPS and SANDF are blocking routes used to deliver food and necessities to these illegal miners.
“Just earlier this week, SAPS and members of the SANDF blocked communities in and around these abandoned mining shafts in Orkney from delivering food parcels, water, and necessities to these illegal miners. This act of stamping the authority of the state eventually forced these illegal miners to resurface,” he said.
Mokgwaabone said the operation is ongoing, and the SAPS and the SANDF are still monitoring these old and abandoned mine shafts as more and more illegal miners resurface.
Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya said Operation Vala Umgodi is yielding positive results across the country.
“We are closely monitoring the situation that is unfolding in the North West. We are not backing down until all those illegal miners resurface and are arrested.”
Since its inception in December 2023 to date, more than 13 691 suspects have been arrested in the seven provinces that are hotspots for illegal mining.
“We’ve seized R5 million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million through Operation Vala Umgodi,” said Sibiya.
