Plans to address illegal mining
Illegal mining was among the topics highlighted at the quarterly Benoni Community Police Forum (CPF) meeting, at Lakeside Mall, on March 19.
Benoni SAPS acting station commander Col Herman Havenga said recent operations have yielded great results, but it’s still a problem, especially in areas such as Kingsway, Lindelani and New Modder.
“We are having frequent operations now.
“We’ve had good successes and made a lot of arrests, but there’s constant recruiting going on amongst the miners,” said Havenga.
He added that SAPS work together with mining companies, filling mine shafts as soon as they are discovered and cleared of miners.
Lieut Nomsa Sekele, Benoni SAPS spokesperson, said the police are conducting daily patrols at abandoned mines.
Lieut Col Obed Mashalane, acting Vispol Commander, said: “We are doing very well in terms of pushing people out of the areas surrounding the old mines. They are now moving into the residential areas like Lindelani, Kingsway and the N12 informal settlement, which is why we are seeing a lot of activity there now.”
“From the six operations we’ve ordered since the beginning of January, we have arrested 29 people in connection with illegal mining. Twenty-four are still in custody. Many of them have been denied bail because they are foreign nationals and their documents weren’t in order.”
Meanwhile, MPL Michele Clarke has started a petition, with the goal to set up a “master plan”, which she hopes will result in the creation of specialised units to combat illegal mining in Gauteng, including Benoni.
“This petition will strengthen the issue and bring extra attention to what’s going on, as it has become a huge problem,” said Clarke.
“We, as a community, need to take a stance against this problem and we have to put pressure on the provincial commissioner about how they are going to police this problem, which has made a war zone of Benoni.
“First we need a proper master plan as to how they (provincial government) are going to be doing it (police illegal mining) and from that we will develop the policing needs.
“Once the petition is ready, I’m going to take it to the speaker’s office. If she accepts it, we table it in a sitting at the provincial legislature, with Gauteng’s premier, the speaker and all the MPLs present.”
