Gauteng premier David Makhura calls for an armed response to tackle illegal mining

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has called on the armed branches of the state to deal with the illegal miners in the country.

“We need the armed response of our state. We need to organise all the security capacity of our democratic state to respond in a way we have not done before. Our country is ungovernable. The criminals have taken over.”

Makhura was addressing Kagiso residents in Johannesburg on Sunday in the second imbizo gathering by police minister Bheki Cele and national commissioner General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola and other officials.

Speaking at the mass meeting in Krugersdorp west of Johannesburg, Premier David Makhura said the issue of illegal mining is “an issue of national security”.

“The Hawks, the Special Task Force, the National Intervention Unit, the Tactical Response Team, they will all be back here tomorrow,” Makhura said

“I myself will be back to deal with this on the 11^th when we will go door-to-door and do inspections. I will be back here with the revenue service and home affairs,” he added.

Makhura raised concern about the safety and security of the people of Gauteng. “Illegal miners, the zama zamas are contributors of huge violent crime in our country right now. They have moved beyond the operations.

“They are stripping electricity infrastructure. They are interfering with underground infrastructure. The security of the state is at risk.”

Meanwhile, Tommy Makhode, the Home Affairs Director General said the department is working closely with neighbouring countries in arranging for the undocumented foreign nationals to be deported.

“We can report here that we now are able to deport all of them. On Thursday we met with the permanent secretary from Lesotho and we have now agreed on a system in terms of how we can push a lot of these deportations to Lesotho and other areas. We’ve already started,” Makhode said.

Source: News24, Eyewitness News, The Citizen, Business Day, image from Twitter

Doctor Mahlaule

Doctor Mahlaule previously worked as a Freelance Journalist at Find-it SA where he was responsible for writing news articles and sharing them on social media platforms. Doctor Mahlaule holds a Diploma in Journalism, BA in Communication Science and a BA Honours in Media Studies. Doctor began his journey as a knowledge Management and Communications Intern at Zenex Foundation. He was responsible for support in event management, social media, website maintenance, writing and brand management. On weekends Doctor attends prison ministry and shares the scriptures with inmates at Krugersdorp prison and plays soccer in the afternoon on some weekends. He has a passion for reading and writing and enjoys going out with friends and socialising in his spare time. He has a one-year-old son and is planning on getting married soon. When asked about what keeps him going, he said: “My family keeps me going. I’m the man I am because I come from a loving home. I have a very supportive family who always encourages me to keep pushing hard.”

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