
Two arrested with gold-bearing material
The suspects were apprehended by members of the National Roving and K9 Unit during a disruptive operation in the area.
During the operation, illicit mining equipment was confiscated, including phendukas (a rotating drum used to crush mineral-bearing ore), wheelbarrows, steel balls, gold-bearing material and other equipment often used in illegal mining activities.
ALSO READ: Police seek help identifying alleged poacher killed in KNP
Investigators are working with officials of the Department of Home Affairs to ascertain the status of the arrested suspects.
The two are expected to appear in the Barberton Magistrate's Court soon, facing charges relating to the contravention of the Immigration Act of South Africa, possession of gold processing equipment and possession of gold-bearing material.
The acting provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General Dr Zeph Mkhwanazi, expressed his appreciation to the members for their relentless efforts in tackling illegal mining activities.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

IOL News
21 hours ago
- IOL News
The data black hole: South Africa cannot govern what it cannot see
At Beitbridge alone, an estimated R690 million in smuggled goods passes annually, says the author. Image: Independent Newspapers Archives At South Africa's northern border, the crossings continue quietly, steadily and mostly unrecorded. While public debate often centres on the visibility of foreign nationals, the far more consequential reality remains largely neglected: South Africa has not conducted a comprehensive national audit of migration flows in over a decade. There is no integrated system tracking who enters, who stays or how movements across borders intersect with labour markets, infrastructure pressure or regional development. This absence is not merely an administrative gap; it is an entrenched institutional blind spot that weakens governance, inflames public anxiety and erodes our credibility in a continent that is moving towards integration through data. The Department of Home Affairs, along with other state organs, operates with fragmented or outdated systems. A biometric border management system, budgeted at R400 million between 2020 and 2023, remains partially deployed and disconnected from labour, policing and regional intelligence networks. As confirmed in the 2025 White Paper on Labour Migration, South Africa has yet to establish a functional labour market information system that connects cross-border movement data to national planning. Stats SA's Quarterly Labour Force Surveys and Mid-Year Population Estimates offer no clear picture of undocumented populations. Civil society and academic estimates vary widely, from 2.5 to over 5 million undocumented migrants. In this vacuum, policies are constructed, services are stretched and myths are allowed to harden into assumptions. The cost of not knowing is rarely borne by those in power. In practice, this sustained opacity benefits a wide range of actors. At Beitbridge alone, an estimated R690 million in smuggled goods passes annually, enabled by under-monitored crossings and document fraud. Informal labour markets, particularly in construction, agriculture and retail, absorb undocumented workers under exploitative conditions, displacing regulation and depressing wages. According to a 2022 WIEGO study, 44% of informal traders in Johannesburg's inner city are foreign nationals, operating with little oversight. At the upper end of the labour market, foreign professionals are frequently hired in sectors such as academia, banking and technology; yet there is no public system for tracking or disaggregating these appointments by origin, skills category or permit status. This lack of consolidated data limits institutional accountability and makes it difficult to assess either the scale of crossborder hiring or its alignment with national development priorities. For political actors, the absence of reliable data allows migration to become a rhetorical device, one that can distract from policy failures when evidence is lacking. The implications of this data vacuum stretch across all tiers of governance. Human trafficking, a R10 billion industry in Southern Africa, flourishes in the blind spots between policy and enforcement. The cost of deportation operations alone has reached R1.2 billion over the past two years; funds that could be redirected to stabilising urban infrastructure or creating employment pathways for local youth. South Africa's 8.9 million NEET youth (not in employment, education or training) compete in an increasingly chaotic labour environment. In the absence of disaggregated skills and migration data, their anxieties are misdirected and their prospects uncertain. Meanwhile, AfCFTA's R50 trillion market potential, built on the free movement of people and goods, assumes that member states can at least measure who is moving. At present, South Africa cannot meet that assumption. According to the International Organization for Migration, over 70% of intra-SADC migration, formal and informal, culminates within South Africa's borders. As neighbouring countries like Eswatini, Mozambique and Namibia become holding zones or corridors for redirected global migration, South Africa increasingly absorbs the outcome of upstream policy decisions. In the absence of regional coordination and continuous cross-border insight, onward movement into South Africa becomes both untraceable and increasingly difficult to manage. Yet without this capacity, we remain unaware of the scale, the conditions and the consequences. The lack of coordination across the region is now more than a technical failure; it is a strategic risk. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Migration data is more than a governance tool; it is a lever for national development. The 2023 Africa Migration Report shows that countries linking mobility to infrastructure, skills and labour planning see stronger growth and more social cohesion. Africa's growth now hinges on human mobility: artisans, engineers, students and informal traders moving across borders. Yet South Africa has not embedded mobility into its planning frameworks. In the absence of integrated data systems, migration remains untracked, unaligned and undervalued. As data scientists and statisticians gather this November, from the South African Statistical Association's summit in Gauteng to the Global Data and AI Summit in Nairobi, African states are preparing to lead with insight. South Africa must do the same. South Africa's leadership in Africa cannot rest on sentiment alone. True Pan-Africanism is not about borderless idealism; it is about accountable systems, shared data and the ability to protect both sovereignty and solidarity through intelligence and cooperation. Until we have the capacity to measure movement, protect labour markets and coordinate with neighbours, liberalisation is not visionary; it is volatile. Pan-Africanism must evolve from declarations to data. That is how we protect the integrity of regional integration. The answer lies not in simply closing borders but in building intelligent ones. South Africa's ability to respond begins with a national migration audit, conducted over 12 months and grounded in interdepartmental collaboration. A digitally enabled migration observatory, anchored in Pretoria and integrated with SADC partners, would help close critical information gaps and restore transparency. This should be complemented by a real-time regional registry and a public-facing dashboard that informs rather than inflames national debate. This is not just a state imperative; it is a national one. Training up to 100 000 NEET youth in migration analytics, digital registry design and regional coordination would create new professional pathways while restoring confidence in the function of the state. Private sector institutions, from banks to transport firms, must also align to new standards of identity verification and border logistics, investing in systems that support clarity and social cohesion. Cities such as London and countries like Morocco demonstrate that well-resourced migration data systems, when implemented with robust oversight, can build coordination and accountability; though even these models must guard against overspend and privacy breaches. Africa is not short of talent or templates. What we need is clarity of vision and the institutional courage to act on what we find. South Africa risks falling behind not because migration is inherently destabilising but because we do not see it clearly enough to manage it constructively. Visibility is no longer optional. It is a strategy for sovereignty, cohesion and credibility in a regional future already unfolding around us. Nomvula Zeldah Mabuza is a Risk Governance and Compliance Specialist with extensive experience in strategic risk and industrial operations. She holds a Diploma in Business Management (Accounting) from Brunel University, UK, and is an MBA candidate at Henley Business School, South Africa. Image: Supplied Nomvula Zeldah Mabuza is a Risk Governance and Compliance Specialist with extensive experience in strategic risk and industrial operations. She holds a Diploma in Business Management (Accounting) from Brunel University, UK, and is an MBA candidate at Henley Business School, South Africa. *** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL. BUSINESS REPORT


The South African
4 days ago
- The South African
Joburg cracks down on undocumented migrants in Sandton raid
Authorities arrested more than 15 undocumented migrants during an early morning operation at the Ginger Informal Settlement in Sandton on Thursday. The operation was led by the City of Johannesburg in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs and focused on enforcing municipal by-laws and removing illegal informal structures in parts of the northern suburbs. Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero told SABC News that the arrested individuals had been taken into custody by the police. 'Well, we have arrested a few undocumented individuals. They are already in the police vans, and they will be taken into custody. Hopefully, Home Affairs will act on them and take them back to their countries of origin,' Morero said. He also claimed that officers had identified the sale of nyaope in the area, which police were addressing. Morero vowed that authorities would carry out further raids across Johannesburg to curb crime and dismantle illegal settlements. 'We are telling residents we are acting and dealing with lawlessness in Johannesburg. We are enforcing the law through by-law enforcement and crime prevention. What is critical is the court orders, we have them, and we are acting in accordance with the law,' he said. He added that the city could not allow illegal occupation and criminality to continue unchecked. Residents in the surrounding area welcomed the operation, expressing pleasure at seeing law enforcement officials take visible action. Some said they hoped such raids would occur more frequently. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.


Daily Maverick
7 days ago
- Daily Maverick
NPA insists it will pursue appeal against Omotoso acquittal despite legal missteps
Despite Judge Irma Schoeman rejecting the NPA's bid for 'clarification' on her ruling that acquitted Timothy Omotoso, the State says it will push forward with an appeal — and the Department of Home Affairs has signalled it will lift Omotoso's five-year ban to ensure he faces trial in South Africa. Despite its failed attempt at gaining more insight into the high court's acquittal of controversial Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it would be going ahead with the appeal process. And should its effort be rewarded with a second shot at the leader of the Jesus Dominion International Church and his two co-accused, the Department of Home Affairs has reportedly indicated it would waive his status as an 'undesirable person', lift his five-year ban from South Africa, and allow his extradition to stand trial. In a brief court appearance on Tuesday, 22 July 2025, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha handed down Judge Irma Schoeman's judgment in respect of the NPA's application for her to provide more clarity on the factual findings that saw Omotoso, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho acquitted on multiple charges of sexual assault and human trafficking. When Advocate Apla Bodlani SC brought the application last week, he indicated that the NPA had grounds on which it wished to appeal against the judgment, but it wanted Schoeman to provide a more detailed explanation of her findings to ensure its approach would be 'sustainable'. Its application was met with much criticism from the defence, which accused the State of embarking on a 'fishing expedition' to build the basis for its appeal. Normal procedure would entail the prosecution first lodging an official appeal, then approaching the judge for clarification on specific points raised in the appeal. In this case no appeal process has started, and it appears the State is asking for a blanket clarification of Schoeman's judgment as a whole. In Schoeman's order, handed down on Tuesday, she agreed that her role in this matter was ' functus officio ' — that she had concluded her duties — and what the NPA was in essence looking for was an altered or supplemented judgment. 'Therefore, the State is not entitled to request clarification of facts prior to the lodging of an application for leave to appeal on a question of law,' Schoeman's judgment read. During the trial, the accused were represented by Bay attorneys Peter Daubermann and Alwyn Griebenow. While Daubermann was in court last week to argue against the State's application, Griebenow attended proceedings on Tuesday. Afterwards, he said the judgment was not surprising. 'The rules on this sort of procedure are quite clear, and the NPA did not follow protocol. This application was doomed to fail from the start.' Asked where his client currently resides, Griebenow said Omotoso went to Nigeria after his deportation, and he assumed that was where he remained. NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said they had anticipated this outcome, but it would not deter them from proceeding with the appeal process. 'With respect, there was a misinterpretation of the case law we relied on as well as the intention of our request before the court.' He said that in order for the NPA to properly draft its questions of law for an appeal it needed to identify factual findings that informed the judge's decision on the acquittal. Mhaga said they did not agree with her order that they must first lodge the appeal before seeking clarification. 'The judge said she cannot correct, alter or supplement her judgment. That was never our request. We wanted her to clarify her factual findings so that we can proceed to finalise the drafting of our questions of law.' He further said they would move forward with the appeal process before the end of this week, and also, if necessary, prepare a condonation application as their appeal would be filed outside the allotted timeframe. Upon leaving OR Tambo International Airport in May, Omotoso was named an 'undesirable person' and slapped with a five-year ban from South Africa. When asked how this would affect the possible extradition of Omotoso should the appeal process be successful, Mhaga said the NPA had already approached the minister of home affairs who agreed to lift Omotoso's ban when the time came. Mhaga also explained that the investigation into the alleged misconduct of several prosecutors involved in the matter, which ultimately laid the foundation for Omotoso's acquittal, was also ongoing. 'We expected to have received feedback on the findings of that investigation some time ago, but it seems that process is still ongoing and we are still awaiting an outcome,' Mhaga said. DM