Suspected illegal miners found dead in Gauteng
Ekurhuleni Metro Police say the bodies of five men believed to be illegal miners have been found at the Grootvlei mine in Springs earlier today.
Spokesperson Clifford Shongwe says they appear to have been shot somewhere else and then brought to the side of a path, where a woman on her way to work found them shortly after 6am.
The police’s dog unit was called in to determine if there were more bodies in the area.
Several illegal miners were killed at the mine in recent weeks.
Aurora Empowerment Systems took over the mine from the liquidated Pamodzi Gold in 2009.
Its assets were stripped and 5 300 workers were left without jobs.
On June 25, High Court in Pretoria Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann ruled that fraud charges could be brought against Aurora’s directors for their reckless management of the mine.
The directors include former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson Zondwa Mandela, President Jacob Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse Zuma, and Solly and Fazel Bhana.
Bertelsmann found the directors, except Zuma, had been involved in wilful deception in the bid letters Aurora submitted to the liquidators in 2009.
In these it was claimed that Aurora had enough money and experience to take over the mines.
(File photo)