AT LEAST 87 illegal Stilfontein miners will spend their second Christmas in jail.
The suspects appeared in the Stilfontein Regional Court in North West on Tuesday, 15 November, and their case was postponed to 3–6 January for a formal bail application.
This is because the suspects appeared in groups of 22 due to small capacity.
They were charged with six counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit robbery, illegal mining, possession of automatic firearms, attempted murder and contravening the Immigration Act.
Thethile Boyce, who was added as the 88th suspect, is out on R2 000 bail.
Hawks investigations revealed that he was a taxi owner who allegedly transported the illegal miners to and from the mine, as well as food.
His taxi was seized after his arrest.
In the last court sitting, all 87 accused indicated their intention to apply for bail. They initially abandoned bail, owing to their illegal status in the country.
Police reports indicated that eight of them were wounded while six were killed during a shoot-out with cops last October.
The eight injured have since been discharged and are now in police custody.
Following the shoot-out, police discovered two minibus taxis, illegal mining equipment, gold-bearing material, 11 illegal firearms and bags of food.
