Rape and robbery charges against 14 illegal miners dropped
Krugersdorp (South Africa) Magistrates’ Court last week acquitted 14 illegal miners who were accused of charges of rape, sexual assault, and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The rape and robbery charges against 14 men, among them Zimbabweans, who are also suspected of being illegal miners, were withdrawn after police couldn’t link them to the rapes through DNA evidence. The men were arrested during police raids on the abandoned mine where the rapes took place.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that the alleged illegal miners remained in custody and would now only face a charge of contravening the Immigration Act.
“The decision to withdraw all the mentioned charges was informed by the outcome of the DNA results, which excluded all the accused, as well as a consultation process that the NPA had with all the complainants in the matter,” she added.
Illegal mining is rife in South Africa, with miners known locally as “Zama Zamas” searching for gold at the many disused and abandoned mines in and around the Johannesburg region. Krugersdorp is a mining town on the western edges of Johannesburg.
Illegal mining gangs are considered dangerous by the police, are usually armed and are known to fight violent turf battles with rival groups. The trade is believed to be dominated by immigrants who enter illegally from neighbouring countries namely Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The 14 men who had rape and robbery charges against them dropped are accused of being in South Africa illegally and have been charged with immigration offences.