By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
A case against 87 illegal miners arrested at Shaft 2 in Orkney on 21 October 2021, has been postponed to 6 September 2022 by Stilfontein Regional Court for dockets and consultations. The accused, who are in police custody, intend to apply for bail and have since appointed a different attorney to represent them just for this application.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Henry Mamothame said they initially abandoned bail, owing to their illegal status in South Africa.
“They are charged with six counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit robbery, illegal mining, possession of automatic firearms, attempted murder, and contravening the immigration act.
“The police reports indicate that eight of the accused were wounded, while other six were fatally wounded during a shootout with the members of the Special Task Force, assisted by Hawks Organised Crime in the North West, during an intelligence-driven operation,” he said.
Mamothame said eight accused who were injured during a shoot-out, have since been discharged from the hospital and are now in police custody. He said police discovered two mini-buses, illegal mining paraphernalia, gold-bearing material, eleven illegal firearms (3 x shotguns, 3 x rifles, 4 x pistols, and 1 x revolver), and bags of food.
Meanwhile, Mamothame said the 88th suspect, Thethile Master Boyce, 60, was added to the charge sheet. He further said Boyce, who is a taxi driver, allegedly transported the suspected illegal miners to and from the mine and also transported food.
“His taxi was seized by the Hawks after his arrest. He is currently out on R2000 bail and also appeared with the other 87 accused. In the last three postponements, the defense attorney committed to providing the state with a hard drive, at which the state will provide the content of the docket, which includes video footage.
“However, such was not fulfilled and the attorney cited a lack of co-operation from the families of the accused, who have been committing to provide him with the hard drive. He recommitted in court to provide it on 30 August 2022 as instructed by the court,” said Mamothame.
He added that the magistrate indicated that no further postponement will be granted.
The Guardian 