Limpopo – Two Mozambican nationals, Adam Sithole (28) and Musa Mlambo (22), were each sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Polokwane Regional Court yesterday after they were convicted on charges relating to unlawful mining and contravention of the Immigration Act.
The court heard that the duo, Sithole and Mlambo were arrested on the 23rd of January 2024 during a disruptive operation conducted by the SAPS’s Vala Umgodi Task Team at Zandrivier old mine in Bergenek village, under the jurisdiction of the Westenburg policing precinct outside Polokwane. At the time of their arrest, they were caught in the act of illegal mining, having already filled two bags with suspected gold-bearing minerals.
The sentences were handed down as follows:
Count 1: Contravention of the Environmental Act – 10 years imprisonment
Count 2: Mining activity without authorization – 10 years imprisonment
Count 3: Illegal mining of gold – 6 months imprisonment
Count 4: Contravention of the Immigration Act – 2 years imprisonment.
The court ordered that the sentences on Counts 2, 3, and 4 run concurrently with Count 1, resulting in an effective sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment for each accused. Additionally, both were declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, welcomed the sentence and applauded the investigating officer for her dedication. She further emphasized that the outcome should serve as a strong deterrent to others engaged in illegal mining:
