Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, has welcomed the arrests of 225 illegal miners in the North West province.

The arrests were made when the illegal miners resurfaced from underground in Orkney, as a result of starvation and dehydration over the weekend.

“These 225 illegal miners are part of others believed to be hundreds if not a thousand illegal miners who are stuck underground with no food, water and necessities because the Vala Umgodi teams,” said the police.

The teams are led by the SAPS and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who are “blocking routes used to deliver food and necessities to these illegal miners.”

“Just earlier this week, SAPS and members of the SANDF blocked communities in and around these abandoned mining shifts in Orkney from delivering food parcels, water and necessities to these illegal miners,” the police said.

The act of stamping the authority of the state eventually forced these illegal miners to resurface.

“This operation is ongoing, and the SAPS and the SANDF are still monitoring these old abandoned mine shafts as more and more illegal miners resurface,” the SAPS said on Saturday.

Sibiya said Operation Vala Umgodi is yielding positive results across the country.

“We are closely monitoring the situation that is unfolding in the North West province, we are not backing down until all those illegal miners resurface and are arrested. Since its inception in December 2023 to date, more than 13 691 suspects have been arrested in the seven provinces that are hotspots for illegal mining.

“We have seized R5 million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million through Operation Vala Umgodi,” said the Lieutenant General.

The majority of those that have been arrested are inclusive of South Africans, Mozambicans, and Basotho nationals.