South Africa arrests hundreds in illegal mining operation

South African police said Friday it had arrested some 1,000 illegal miners in an operation that lasted several days.

A statement by the police said most of the suspects are foreigners without documents to support their stay in the country. It said their nationalities had not yet been established.

They were arrested at a mine in Barbeton in the Mpumalanga province, the statement said.

In recent months, South Africa has intensified operations against illegal mining and mines.

In January, nearly 2000 illegal miners were arrested at an old gold mine in Stilfontein. Of these, 1,128 were from Mozambique, 473 from Zimbabwe, and 197 from Lesotho.

In the same operation, at least 78 people died after authorities blocked supplies from reaching the underground mine.

South African authorities were accused by activists and rights groups of using starvation to push the miners out of the pits where they had barricaded themselves.

In August of 2024, police had stopped food and water from being taken down the discontinued mine in an attempt to force people to the surface.

The South African government defended the police siege on the mine as necessary to fight crime and illegal mining.