Since August last year, the South African government has deported 80 Mozambicans accused of illegal mining in North West province.

According to the South African Ministry of Home Affairs, in the same period 30 Basuthos, ten Zimbabweans, one Congolese and one Malawian were sent back to their countries of origin.

Speaking this Sunday (02), the commander general of the South African police, Fannie Masemola, who was presenting the aftermath of the operations carried out during the last festive season, revealed that a total of more than 1,700 illegal miners were arrested, most of them foreigners, including Mozambicans.

Cited by Radio MozambiqueMasemola added that, at the moment, the process of identifying the bodies of around 80 illegal miners who lost their lives inside a gold mine in Stilfontein, North West, is still underway. This process involves the families of the deceased.

"The forensic pathology department is busy with the autopsies with the assistance of the victim identification center, where fingerprints and samples for DNA analysis are being collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Our teams have already collected samples from the deceased and fingerprints from relatives so that we can try to identify these people," said Masemola.

The source stressed that at the same time, the pursuit of an alleged mastermind of the illegal mining who escaped from the hands of the authorities is continuing, leading to the arrest of at least four agents.

According to General Masemola, since the start of the operation to stamp out illegal mining in December 2023, more than 18,000 suspects have been arrested, most of them illegal immigrants.

(Photo DR)