Suspected illegal miners in court for murder

Eighty seven alleged illegal miners, “zama-zamas”, appeared at the Stilfontein Regional Court on Wednesday where they have been charged with six counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit robbery and illegal mining.

They were allegedly operating at a shaft in Orkney. The State added new charges against the accused, including possession of automatic firearms, attempted murder and contravening the immigration act. During their last appearance in December, it emerged that all the accused were in the country illegally.

The suspects abandoned their bail applications as they were verified to be in the country illegally.
During their arrest in October last year, eight of the accused were wounded and six were fatally wounded during a shoot-out with police. The eight have since been discharged from hospital and are now in police custody.

Following the shoot-out, police discovered, two mini-buses, illegal mining paraphernalia, gold-bearing material, eleven Illegal firearms (3 shotguns, 3 rifles, 4 pistols and 1 revolver) and bags of food.

Source: IOL

In other news – Video of Mpura jamming to Riky Ricky leaves Mzansi in tears

The mood throughout the country has been a somber one following the funeral of South African rapper and fashion Icon Riky Makhado.

Lady du, who had a good relationship with the late rapper shared a video clip of Mpura watching a performance of Riky and jamming to the lyrics. Learn more