https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Africa|Gold|Health|Mining|Bearing
Africa|Gold|Health|Mining|Bearing
africa|gold|health|mining|bearing

Case against 87 suspected Orkney 'zama zamas' charged in deadly shootout transferred to regional court

20th January 2022

By: News24Wire

  

Font size: - +

The case against 87 suspected illegal miners arrested after a deadly shootout with police in Orkney in October has been transferred from the Orkney Magistrate's Court to the Regional Court in Stilfontein, North West.

The accused were arrested in Orkney following a shootout with law enforcement officers.

They appeared in the Orkney Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, and the case was postponed to 2 March for the continuation of the police investigation, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Henry Mamothame.

"Following the completion of the status verification of these miners, it was established that all 87 persons have no legal documents to be in South Africa and as such are illegal. They have all abandoned their bail applications. The accused are facing charges of attempted murder, illegal possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition, illegal possession of gold, theft and conspiracy to commit an offence," said Mamothame.

During the arrests, when the police descended on the mine shaft, the officers were met with gunfire, News24 previously reported.

The shootout resulted in six deaths, and eight of the accused were wounded.

"One of the accused is still under police guard, receiving medical attention at a health facility, and the case proceeded in his absence," said Mamothame.

At the time of the arrests, police officers recovered two minibuses, illegal mining paraphernalia, gold-bearing material, 11 illegal firearms and bags of food.

The group will remain in police custody until their next court appearance.

Edited by News24Wire

Comments

Showroom

Yale Lifting Solutions
Yale Lifting Solutions

Yale Lifting Solutions is a leading supplier of lifting and material handling equipment in Southern Africa. Yale offers a wide range of quality...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Rittal
Rittal

Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.085 0.136s - 160pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now