UNDER the leadership of Colonel Jacob Moloi, the multi-disciplinary team of Operation Vala Umgodi, focusing on illicit mining and related crimes in the Kleinzee area of Namaqualand, made significant strides this past weekend.
With the backing of the South African National Defence Force, they apprehended 15 suspects for illegal mining and trespassing on April 14 and seized equipment suspected to be used for illegal mining.
The intelligence-driven action was executed in the targeted area, where the team arrested six South Africans, five Lesotho nationals and four Zimbabwean nationals on charges of illegal mining and trespassing.
The Operation Vala Umgodi team also seized a variety of items from the suspected illegal miners, including a crusher machine, generators, bags potentially filled with diamond-bearing gravel, dagga, liquor, and various mining tools.
The provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Northern Cape, Lieutenant-General Koliswa Otola, commended the team members for their commitment to the fight against illegal mining and related crimes.
