The Stilfontein Magistrates’ Court postponed the bail hearing against two (2) of the twenty-one (21) suspected illegal miners who were arrested in Stilfontein to 3 November 2022 for a further bail hearing. One of the accused was under cross-examination by his legal attorney when the case was adjourned, owing to the prison where they are detained closing at 16h00. The state intends to oppose bail. Three (3) of the accused handed their passports and address statements to the investigating officer for verifi¬cation, in a bid to also apply for bail. Five of the suspects were confi-rmed to be South African citizens, while 16 are verifi¬ed to be illegal in the country.
All twenty suspects have sourced the services of one private attorney while the remaining accused sourced his own attorney who was conducting cross-examination to secure bail for him. Their court appearance emanates from a well-executed operation on 10 October 2022 by the North West Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation, assisted by members of the Hawks' Tactical Man- agement Section, Special Task Force, National Intervention Unit, District Illegal Mining Task Team, Tactical Response Team, Bidvest Protea Coin, and Harmony Gold mine when they embarked on an early morning raid at a mine shaft in Stilfontein.
According to the Hawks, the operation follows weeks of surveillance into the alleged illegal mining activities of the suspects resulting in the arrest of twenty-one (21)suspects, and the seizure of fi-fteen (15) AK47s, six (6) hunting rifles, two (2) shotguns and one (1) R5, boxes full of ammunition, explosives and an undisclosed amount of money. One of the accused who was arrested at his home is suspected of transporting food and goods to the illegal miners while on site. His vehicle was also seized.
His cross-examination will commence when the matter resumes in court. Meanwhile, the state is studying the docket’s preliminary charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of prohibited ¬firearms, possession of ammunition and contravention of the immigration act and not ruling out a possibility of adding more charges.
