By BAKANG MOKOTO
29 August 2025- A two-day joint operation conducted in collaboration with the Vala Umgodi Task Team, the Border Management Authority and Namakwa district personnel, SAPS components and the Free State SAPS Airwing, has intensified its efforts to curb illegal mining activities in the district.
On 25 August 2025, actions were executed in the Nuttabooi Informal Settlement area during which two undocumented foreign nationals aged 25 and 27, were arrested. This includes a man (50) in Port Nolloth.
The Namakwa District police spokesperson, Captain Ivan Magerman said rapid searches and patrols alongside the Orange river, which is believed to be the area where immigrants cross the river from Oranje Oewer on the Namibian side into Vioolsdrift on the South African Border.
Magerman said during these patrols, members of the Kimberley Mounted Unit were also utilised to augment the teams deployed and conducted patrols in the target areas.
“The Free State SAPS Airwing assisted and participated in the operations, providing air support to the ground forces. Fourteen undocumented foreign nationals, comprising five females and twelve males, were arrested in the area on 26 August 2025.
“They were processed and detained. In total, 17 arrested persons are expected to appear in the Port Nolloth Magistrate’s Court soon,” he said.
Magerman further reiterated that Operation Vala Umgodi remains a priority intervention implemented to curb and dismantle illegal mining of sand and minerals, which causes environmental damage and threatens the infrastructure. He added that the targeted operations also address broader crimes such as possession of illegal or unlicensed firearms, drug trafficking and smuggling of commodities across the borders, not only in the Namakwa area.
“The operations also focuses on Contravention of the Immigration Laws and the trafficking of counterfeit goods and illicit cigarettes and by curtailing illegal mining, Vala Umgodi seeks to safeguard the economy, the infrastructure and the environment,” said Magerman.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection, Major General Luntu Ngubelanga also participated and supported the teams during the operation on 26 August 2025.
The Guardian 