LIMPOPO – Police have disrupted suspected illegal mining operations in Limpopo and seized a haul of equipment during a dawn raid in the Sekhukhune District.

The South African Police Service (SAPS), through the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit and SSG Security, launched the operation at Atok in the Driekop policing area on Friday, 14 August.

The operation began at about 07:00, when police and security personnel descended on an area where suspected illegal miners were allegedly actively extracting minerals.

SSG Security members blocked access to the mining area, effectively disrupting the operation and preventing the suspected illegal miners from continuing their activities.

Police then moved to Madaashoek, where they encountered another group of suspected illegal miners.

The suspects fled when members arrived, leaving behind equipment believed to have been used in the illegal mining activities.

The confiscated equipment included:

• 12 generators
• Four jackhammers
• Five wheelbarrows
• Four shovels
• One spade
• One pickaxe
• One five-metre electrical cable
• Two chisels

The operation forms part of ongoing efforts by SAPS and its security partners to disrupt illegal mining activities and dismantle the infrastructure used to sustain such operations.

Police said operations targeting illegal mining will continue in the province.

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