When the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) intensifies its deployment to illegal mining hotspots across the country, acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said Benoni will not be left behind.

Speaking on the sidelines of a school shoes donation drive at Ephes Mamkeli on March 2, Cachalia committed to ensuring that the community’s long-running battle with illicit mining operations forms part of the national crackdown.

Responding to whether Benoni is among the areas earmarked for army deployment, he said operational details are still in the hands of national police commissioner Fanie Masemola and the SANDF chief Rudzani Maphwanya.

“Obviously, since this is a problem across the country, they will be deployed wherever needed. I haven’t visited those areas of Benoni yet where there’s an illegal mining problem. I will make sure that the illegal mining operations in Benoni receive attention,” he said.

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Cachalia indicated that elements of the army deployment have already begun in parts of the country.

“The actual deployment is an operational matter. The operational plan is done by the head of the army and the head of the police, Masemola. They indicated to me it will take 10 days.

“I can’t remember exactly what the date was, but by March 1, the deployment would have started.

“You know I’m not going to be discussing the details of the operational plan in public, but the deployment in some parts of the country has already started.”

He acknowledged that illegal mining is an escalating concern, describing it as the work of sophisticated and organised criminal networks, often enabled by corruption.

“Illegal mining is a growing problem. We can see that part of the response has to be high visibility by the police and the army. But really, what we are dealing with is organised crime.

“Cartels are well organised. There’s obviously an element of corruption, which explains why this activity continues even though we are trying to bring it under control.”

Cachalia maintained that while operational specifics will remain confidential, the government is mobilising both manpower and financial resources to confront what he described as an entrenched, nationwide criminal enterprise.

“It’s a problem in many parts of the country, not only in Benoni.

“But we are paying attention to this problem. In the budget speech, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana announced further allocations to the police from the budget, as well as what we call the Criminal Assets Recovery Account funds.

“Those funds are what we’ve succeeded in the asset forfeiture process. It is part of the enforcement of the criminal law.

“So partly it’s about arresting and convicting them, but we’re also stripping them of their assets. We’re using those funds to strengthen our law enforcement operations.”

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