A thousand illegal miners arrested in Barberton mine in Mpumalanga on Friday stand guarded by police.

Police have uprooted 1, 000 undocumented immigrants and zama zamas from a Barberton mine in Mpumalanga on Friday.

With the large number, police confirmed that measures are being followed for law and order maintenance.

SAPS is working closely with other law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal mining activities through regular operations, visible policing, and intelligence-driven interventions.

Illegal mining networks

These efforts aim to dismantle illegal mining networks, protect our natural resources, and ensure the safety of affected communities, said police in a statement.

In the videos seen by Sunday World, a large group of captured illegal miners can be seen lined up in long queues. Their clothes are stained and heavy with dirt, which may be proof of time spent underground.

Their bodies remain under the watchful eyes of police officers. The atmosphere is intense, with police dogs standing alert beside their handlers, ready to act.

Dust lingers in the air as the camera pans across the scene. It captures the harsh reality of an underground world brought to the surface.

More zama zamas nabbed in region

In another case, about 150 illegal miners were trapped inside an abandoned mine in Sabie, also in Mpumalanga.

Sunday World previously reported that according to police, private security officers patrolling the area encountered four panicked men fleeing the scene.

The men then revealed that they and others had been forced into illegal mining under horrifying conditions.

From August 2024, South Africa battled a scourge of illegal mining in North Wests  Stilfontein mine. Masses of undocumented migrants and illegal miners were trapped underground in a stand-off with police.

Some took time to come to the surface. Others eventually handed themselves over in fear of starvation after the police halted the delivery of food and water.

ActionSA fingers government

ActionSA Mpumalanga chairperson, Thoko Mashiane, described the discovery of these illegal miners as troubling. She blamed the porous borders of Mpumalanga.

What is even more disturbing is that while illegal foreigners are being rescued, the remains of the three Lily Mine workers have still not been retrieved after more than nine years.

This double standard is a painful reminder of governments failure to prioritise justice for South Africans, said Mashiane.

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