More than five months after the launch of Operation Vala Umgodi in Stilfontein, North West, police say the case against miners is still ongoing.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) in North West said a large portion of the miners are still in custody, as many of them are illegal immigrants, adding that they would be deported after the finalisation of the court cases.
The miners face a range of charges, including the possession of gold-bearing material, illegal mining, and the contravention of the Immigration Act.
The provincial SAPS spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh said 156 cases from 242 registered dockets that involve 1 831 suspects were still pending.
She said only 86 dockets have been finalised and about 1 024 suspects were found guilty and sentenced in 69 cases.
Myburgh added that a total of 17 cases were withdrawn.
“This mostly included cases against miners that were repatriated and cases where there were no prospects of successful prosecution.”
She said it was not possible to confirm all the court dates, adding that they are determined by the court.
“Also bear in mind that all the dockets have different court dates,” Myburgh said.
Last month, North West acting police commissioner Major-General Patrick Asaneng told the portfolio committees on Police, and Minerals and Petroleum Resources that the illegal immigrants included 1 128 from Mozambique, 473 Zimbabweans, and 197 from Lesotho.
Twenty-six of them were South Africans.
Asaneng also revealed that there had been 477 deportations.
He said the province spent more than R33 million on deployments in Stilfontein operations since August 2024, adding that R23.6m was spent on deployment costs for 944 police officers and R9.8m on overtime costs.
The police operation also saw the cutting off of food and water supplies for months in an attempt to force the miners to the surface so that they could be arrested.
However, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ordered police and other government authorities to allow food, water, and medication to be delivered to the miners trapped underground, following a court application by the organisation Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua), and Lawyers for Human Rights.
Mametlwe Sebei, an attorney with Lawyers for Human Rights, said the fact that the miners were charged for contravening the Immigration Act and illegal mining shows that they are only guilty of crimes of poverty and that this could easily be resolved by regulating artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).
“This could be a source of hundreds of thousands of jobs. There are over 6 000 mines in the country that are abandoned and ownerless, and over 2 500 are set to have substantial members, but even those that are not set to have substantial members can still be mined on an artisanal basis. We just need a regulation of these mines as well as support in terms of equipment,” he said.
In its submission to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), ahead of the national inquiry into illegal mining, Macua said the miners were economic migrants with no ties to criminal networks, adding that the official government statements and media reports falsely framed them as criminals, fuelling xenophobic and anti-migrant rhetoric.
The organisation said the frequent use of terms such as “illegal miners” and “illegal foreigners” in the media directly influences public perception by framing these miners as criminals before any legal process has determined their guilt or innocence.
“This language subtly reinforces State narratives of national security threats, lawlessness, and foreign infiltration, often justifying extreme State actions such as police brutality, mass arrests, and even starvation tactics, as seen in the Stilfontein crisis,” read the document.
The organisation added that the real cause of “illegal mining” is the abandonment of mines by corporations and the high levels of unemployment and poverty, adding that focusing on illegal foreigners distracts the public from holding companies and government regulators accountable.
The SAHRC inquiry into illegal mining is expected to kick off next month.
Meanwhile, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu also told the portfolio committees that investigations continue into the possible involvement of law enforcement in the escape of the alleged kingpin known as Tiger Tshoaeli.
