ZAMA zamas have been on a losing streak since the launch of Operation Vala Mgodi in Ekurhuleni.
The police are not giving them a chance to breath by frequently visiting the areas where they carry out their illegal mining activities.
On Monday, 8 April, police pounced on unsuspecting illegal miners in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni.
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Ekurhuleni district police spokeswoman Captain Nelda Sekgobela said a joint operation by SAPS, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department, Westrand, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni Public Police, SANDF, National Intervention Unit and other law enforcement agencies managed to bust 32 undocumented zama zamas.
The police seized the following items: liquor, compressor, motor, tool box with multiple tools and screws, electrical cables, shovels, 12 pendukas, stands, extension cord, hacksaw, two axes, bush cutter, golf streak, crowbar, knife, spanner, gas pipe, crush sand, water pump components, paraffin, diesel, oxygen cylinder, cutting torch, gas bottles, generators, steel pots, drill machine, hose pipe, chainsaw, solar light, picks, spades, stamping steel, gold bearing soil and two motor bikes, one reported as stolen in Brakpan in March.
Deputy Ekurhuleni district commissioner, Brigadier Lebohang Machakela, praised the joint efforts by the teams involved, which led to the arrest of the illegal miners and confiscation of illegal mining equipment.
