AS part of Operation Shanela, police and soldiers were sent in a major raid against illegal mining.
The raid took place on Wednesday, 10 January in Benoni, Ekurhuleni.
But it seemed as if the illegal miners had been warned, as they disappeared into holes and were never seen again.
Soldiers, EMPD and police were waiting at the other end, but the zama zamas never turned up.
They even stood guard at some of the holes, but the illegal miners never came out again. Only the makeshift shack where they operate could be seen. At one of the holes there was a wooden ladder that they used to get in.
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This was unlike the raid on Wednesday, 3 January in the same area, where police arrested more than 200 illegal miners and a large number of pendukas, generators and some items used in illegal mining were seized.
This time the cops returned empty-handed.
The companies located close to the illegal mining said they wished that illegal mining could be completely eradicated.
An employee at one of the companies said: "Our government is preaching the eradication of illegal mining but at the same time the police have no powers to take action against it."
Major-General Anna Sithole said the purpose of the operation was to assist the local police station to deal with zama zamas and dismantle the tools they use in illegal mining.
