South African police announced Friday the arrest of approximately 1,000 illegal miners during a multi-day operation targeting unregulated mining activity in the country’s Mpumalanga province.
The arrests took place at a mine in Barberton, where the majority of suspects were found to be undocumented foreigners. Authorities stated that the nationalities of those apprehended are still being determined.
This effort is part of a broader crackdown on illicit mining across South Africa. Earlier this year, a major raid in Stilfontein led to nearly 2,000 arrests at an abandoned gold mine. Of those, 1,128 were identified as Mozambican nationals, 473 from Zimbabwe, and 197 from Lesotho.
That January operation sparked controversy when at least 78 people died after access to food and water was cut off by authorities, who were attempting to flush miners out from underground tunnels where they had barricaded themselves. Human rights organizations condemned the tactic as inhumane and accused officials of using starvation as a weapon.
Despite the backlash, the South African government defended the approach, framing it as a necessary measure to combat criminal networks and protect the mining industry from further exploitation.
