Photo by: Reuters
SPRINGS – Eight suspected illegal miners were arrested in Springs following a shoot-out with police, the Ekurhuleni metro police department said on Monday.
Lt-Col Wilfred Kgasago said that police raided various informal settlements in the Springs area in the early hours of Friday morning following reports of criminal activities including illegal mining.
"In Bekkerton, as the officers were approaching the area, shots were fired at them with firearms that sounded like high-calibre arms and handguns.
"The officers' retaliatory action led the arrest of, initially, sixteen suspects."
Eight of those arrested were released when it became clear they were not responsible.
No one was injured in the shootout. Equipment used in illegal mining was seized at the time.
The final eight arrested – ranging in age from 22 to 27 and identified as citizens of Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe – are due to appear in the Springs Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.