{"id":77897,"date":"2025-04-03T12:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=77897"},"modified":"2025-04-03T12:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:23:10","slug":"trafficking-curbed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/trafficking-curbed\/","title":{"rendered":"Trafficking curbed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The joint Operation Vala uMgodi team, which includes the SAPS, South African National Defense Force (SANDF) and Department of Home Affairs, <strong>continues to deal with the element of human trafficking related to illicit mining in the Free State<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Members conducted foot and vehicle patrols, as well as stop-and-search operations. A roadblock was assembled on the N1 south near Ventersburg. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>At the roadblock, 174 vehicles and 528 persons were searched. A number of 93 undocumented persons were arrested<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;At the roadblock, 174 vehicles and 528 persons were searched. A number of 93 undocumented persons were arrested. Case dockets for contravention of the Immigration Act were opened. At Kopanang Mine, a private security company and bomb disposal and explosives experts seized 290 detonators,&#8221; says Lt. Col Thabo Covane of SAPS Corporate Communication and Liaison in the Free State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The joint Operation Vala uMgodi team, which includes the SAPS, South African National Defense Force (SANDF) and Department of Home Affairs, continues to deal with the element of human trafficking 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Joint Operation Vala uMgodi team, which includes the South African Police Service, South African National Defense Force and Department of Home Affairs, continue to deal with the element of human trafficking related to illicit mining in Free State Province. Members conducted foot and vehicle patrols; stop and search in informal settlements, malls, taxi ranks, and bus terminus. A roadblock was also assembled on N1 National Road [South] near Ventersberg. \"During the roadblock, 174 vehicles and 528 persons were searched. A total number of 93 undocumented persons with ages between 20 and 60 from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and others were arrested. Case dockets for Contravention of Immigration Act were opened. At Kopanang Mine, Private Security Company and Bomb Disposal and Explosives Experts seized 290 detonators. The explosives were found left behind by illegal underground miners,\" says Lt Col Thabo Covane, SAPS Corporate Communication and Liaison: Free State. Pictured is a vehicle and people being searched during the roadblock that was held on 1 April.","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"Marti","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Trafficking 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Members conducted foot and vehicle patrols; stop and search in informal settlements, malls, taxi ranks, and bus terminus. A roadblock was also assembled on N1 National Road [South] near Ventersberg. \\\"During the roadblock, 174 vehicles and 528 persons were searched. A total number of 93 undocumented persons with ages between 20 and 60 from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and others were arrested. Case dockets for Contravention of Immigration Act were opened. At Kopanang Mine, Private Security Company and Bomb Disposal and Explosives Experts seized 290 detonators. The explosives were found left behind by illegal underground miners,\\\" says Lt Col Thabo Covane, SAPS Corporate Communication and Liaison: Free State. 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Joint Operation Vala uMgodi team, which includes the South African Police Service, South African National Defense Force and Department of Home Affairs, continue to deal with the element of human trafficking related to illicit mining in Free State Province. Members conducted foot and vehicle patrols; stop and search in informal settlements, malls, taxi ranks, and bus terminus. A roadblock was also assembled on N1 National Road [South] near Ventersberg. \"During the roadblock, 174 vehicles and 528 persons were searched. A total number of 93 undocumented persons with ages between 20 and 60 from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and others were arrested. Case dockets for Contravention of Immigration Act were opened. At Kopanang Mine, Private Security Company and Bomb Disposal and Explosives Experts seized 290 detonators. The explosives were found left behind by illegal underground miners,\" says Lt Col Thabo Covane, SAPS Corporate Communication and Liaison: Free State. 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Vista, an English\/Afrikaans publication, first brought news to the community on 23 April 1971, with the following message on the front page: \u201cWe are here to write about the Goldfield and its people. We are here to serve the area in which we find ourselves, and with the help of our readers \u2013 who refine us with their constructive criticism.","email":"vistanews@novusmedia.co.za","telephone":"+27573571304","legalName":"Novus Media (Pty) Ltd","foundingDate":"2025-01-01","vatID":"4100318916","taxID":"2000\/018234\/07","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"51","maxValue":"200"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#\/schema\/person\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe","name":"Vista","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vista"},"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/author\/vista\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/roadblock2_47330.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":296891,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/police-in-the-free-state-arrest-1356-suspects-for-multiple-crimes\/","url_meta":{"origin":77897,"position":0},"title":"Police in the Free State arrest 1 356 suspects for multiple crimes","author":"Lientjie Mentz","date":"23 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"With a focus on illicit contraband, vehicle crimes and illegal firearms, the police in the Free State arrested 1 356 crimes in a week long operation.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The police in the Free State arrested 1 358 suspects during Operation Shanela.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAPS-roadblock.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAPS-roadblock.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAPS-roadblock.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAPS-roadblock.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAPS-roadblock.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Vista","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77897"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=77897"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=77897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}