South African police have arrested around 1,000 illegal miners during a multi-day operation at a mining site in Barberton, Mpumalanga Province, as part of a broader national crackdown on illegal mining activities.
In a statement released Friday, authorities confirmed that most of those detained are undocumented foreign nationals.
While their nationalities have yet to be officially verified, police say further investigations are underway.
The operation is the latest in a series of intensified efforts by South Africa to curb illegal mining, a practice that has increasingly been linked to organized crime, environmental damage, and unsafe working conditions.
This follows a major incident in January when nearly 2,000 illegal miners were arrested at an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein.
Of those, 1,128 were identified as Mozambicans, 473 as Zimbabweans, and 197 from Lesotho.
That operation drew international scrutiny after at least 78 people reportedly died when police blocked access to food and water supplies in a bid to force the miners to surface.
Human rights groups accused the authorities of using starvation as a method of eviction.
Police had initiated the blockade in August 2024, targeting individuals who had barricaded themselves underground in defiance of eviction orders.
The South African government defended the controversial move, saying it was a necessary step in combating illegal mining and its associated criminal networks.
The government has vowed to continue its clampdown, citing illegal mining as a serious threat to public safety, national security, and the economy.
