Gauteng police seized 75 AK-47 rounds in a tense shootout with suspected Zama Zamas in Westonaria in the early hours of Thursday, February 12.
The confrontation erupted after police were alerted by mine security that about 100 illegal miners were advancing toward the mine plant, prompting an immediate response.
“Police officers from Public Order Police were immediately dispatched. As the police were approaching, the alleged illegal miners started firing shots at the police, using automatic rifles, and police fired back,” said provincial spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo.
Masondo added that as officers advanced, they discovered a bag containing 75 AK-47 rifle rounds of ammunition.
The shootout followed a series of arrests and seizures in the area. On Wednesday, February 11, police apprehended two men, both aged 30, found in possession of suspected stolen cables and a water pump worth thousands of rands.
Tools used for illegal mining were also seized, along with 26 bags of gold-bearing material and 42 steel pendukas.
This was not the first violent encounter between police and illegal miners in the region. On February 8, a pre-dawn operation in Carletonville escalated into a fierce two-hour gun battle after armed suspects, believed to be in possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, opened fire on SAPS officers.
The National Intervention Unit, together with Gauteng Public Order Police, responded, fatally wounding two illegal miners and seizing two AK-47 rifles, two pistols, and ammunition. No police officers were injured during the operation.
National SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe described the suspects, identified as Basotho nationals, as highly dangerous and warned that continued surveillance operations were underway to track others who fled into nearby bushes.
The Star
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