The visit by the committees, which include Mineral Resources and Energy, Police, and Home Affairs, comes after 21 gun-wielding men, including 13 Lesotho nationals, and 5 South Africans, among others, were arrested by the Hawks on Monday 10 October 2022. 

ALSO READ: Gun-wielding suspects arrested in North West

They were arrested at the shaft mine and guns, including over 20 AK47s, 6 000 rounds of ammunition, and an undisclosed amount of money was confiscated. The case against the 21 suspects, aged between 19 and 40 years of age, was postponed to 18 October 2022 for verification of addresses and immigration statuses at the Stilfontein Magistrate’s Court on Thursday 13 October 2022.

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According to the committee’s media officer, Justice Molafo, the different committees will this weekend conduct a two-day joint oversight visit to assess the state of illegal mining in the North West province.

The committees will also engage residents in Orkney, Stilfontein and Hartbeesfontein in the Klerksdorp-based Matlosana Local Municipality. The committees are also expected to then deliberate on their observations and recommend a way forward in a joint oversight report that will be tabled for adoption in the National Assembly (NA).  

“The joint oversight will commence at 09:00 on Saturday at the Ngwenya hotel in Klerksdorp. The committees will receive a joint presentation on the state of illegal mining in the province from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Department of Police, and the Department of Home Affairs. They will then listen to the challenges faced by community members affected by illegal mining, and thereafter, visit areas where illegal mining is taking place in Orkney, Stilfontein and Hartbeesfontein.  

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On Sunday morning between 09:00 and 13:00, the committees will be visiting areas of illegal mining in Mooinooi, outside Rustenburg. They will then hold a meeting with representatives of communities affected by illegal mining between 14:00 and 16:00.

Five provinces are regarded as illegal mining hotspots in South Africa, namely Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West and the Free State. The committees have visited four of them already and North West is the last province to be visited,” Molafo adds.

Meanwhile, in 2021, 20 bodies of the so-called zama-zamas from the neighbouring country of the mountain kingdom of Lesotho were found, with at least 14 of them in grain bags.

ALSO READ: Investigation launched after 20 bodies were discovered outside Klerksdorp

They were found on 14 June at about 19:00 outside an old mine ventilation shaft in Lawrence Park, Orkney.

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