Cape Town — National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has lauded the efforts of Operation Vala Umgodi in dealing with illegal mining activities.
The latest success of Operation Vala Umgodi saw a team led by the National Intervention Unit (NIU) traced a wanted illegal mining kingpin to Jabulani, Soweto, this past weekend, a SAPS statement read.
“The deceased suspect who is a Lesotho national has been linked to at least twenty-nine illegal mining related murders in Florida and Nomzamo in Soweto where sixteen people were killed at a local tavern.” Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said.
“During the tracing operation, the Lesotho national was shot and killed by police after pointing a firearm at police and resisting arrest at his hideout in Soweto.” Mathe added.
An illegal mining kingpin has been shot and killed during an SAPS operation in Soweto. The Lesotho National was linked to 29 illegal mining related murders reported in Gauteng Province. Through #OperationValaUmgodi 4774 suspects have been arrested. pic.twitter.com/FSPABoWhZT
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) May 7, 2024
Multidisciplinary teams in various provinces arrested 62 suspects in Limpopo and nine in the Northern Cape for their role in illegal mining activities. In April, the same team seized R1 million in cash and a number of illicit mining equipment was sezied from a house in Carletonville.
To date, Operation Vala Umgodi teams have arrested more than 4774 suspects for a number of crimes including illicit mining activities. This included 146 firearms, 4 518 rounds of ammunition, 78 vehicles, 79 trucks, 33 TLBs. 7 130 uncut diamonds worth R32 million rand has also been seized. R4 million in cash has been seized by the teams in all nine provinces.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
