ANA reports that seven people have been arrested for possessing gold-bearing material such as gas bottles, scales, gold and platinum testers, cutting torches, plastic basins, gold burning pots, and “scandunga” in the mining town of Welkom in the Free State.  

Welkom cluster commander Major-General Lerato Molale said police on Tuesday went to a house in Riebeeckstad where a 42-year-old suspect was apprehended.  In a continued police operation aimed at clamping down on illicit mining in the area by so-called “zama-zamas”, five suspects were also arrested for being in possession of gold-bearing material at another house in Dagbreek, while a 36-year-old was picked up at a residence in Thabong.  Molale said all suspects, whose ages ranged from 29 to 45, would soon appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court.

• Read this report in full at The Citizen

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