Rustenburg – A 60-year-old taxi owner has been added to the charge sheet of 87 alleged illegal miners arrested in the North West.
Thethile Master Boyce, was added to the charge sheet as the 88th accused, he appeared with the other 87 accused in the Stilfontein Magistrate’s Court.
“Hawks investigations revealed that Boyce is a taxi owner, who allegedly transported the suspected illegal miners to and from the mine, and also transported food.
“His taxi was seized by the Hawks, after his arrest.
“He is currently out on R2 000 bail,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in North West division, Henry Mamothame.
He said the case was postponed to September 6 for docket and consultation.
“In the last three postponements, the defence attorney committed to providing the state with a hard drive, at which the state will provide the content of the docket, which includes video footage.
“Such was not fulfilled and the attorney cited a lack of cooperation from the families of the accused, who have been committing to provide him with the hard drive,” Mamothame said.
“He recommitted in court to provide it on August 30, 2022, as instructed by the court.
“The magistrate indicated that no further postponement will be granted, and instructed the attorney to ensure that the hard drive is provided on the agreed date.”
Eighty-seven suspected illegal miners were arrested at shaft 2 in October of 2021.
The men all from Lesotho, are facing charges of attempted murder, illegal possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition, illegal possession of gold, theft and conspiracy to commit an offence.
They were arrested in an intelligence driven operation on October 20 at Shaft 2 in Orkney.
Mamothame said the group have indicated that they want to apply for bail and have appointed a different attorney to represent them just for bail application.
“They initially abandoned bail, owing to their illegal status in South Africa.
“They are charged with six counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit robbery, illegal mining, possession of automatic firearms, attempted murder and contravening the Immigration Act.”
IOL