Nine arrested in Mashobodo as police raid illegal gold mining site
Operation Vala Umgodi team recovers mining implements and chemicals suspected of being used to refine gold-bearing material in Ngodwana policing area.
Nine foreign nationals from Mozambique were arrested in Mashobodo on Saturday, 03 October 2026, during a South African Police Service operation targeting illegal mining in the Ngodwana policing area of Mpumalanga.
The arrests were made under Operation Vala Umgodi, the SAPS-led drive against illegal mining. According to a media statement from the office of the Provincial Commissioner in Mpumalanga, a multidisciplinary team was acting on intelligence information when it moved on a group of illegal miners and cornered the nine male suspects.
Police recovered pendukas, a type of mining implement, and chemicals suspected to be used to refine gold-bearing material. The nine face charges relating to illegal mining activities and possession of gold-bearing material.
SAPS said it is working with officials from the Department of Home Affairs to establish the immigration status of the arrested men. They are expected to appear in court in due course.
Lieutenant General Apaphia Modise, the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, said the arrests form part of the service’s ongoing operations against illegal mining. “As the SAPS, we continue to ensure the utilisation of all available resources in dealing with illegal mining,” Modise said. “Similar Operations will continue to be carried out, not only in Mashobodo, but also in other areas, including Barberton, Sabie, Pilgrim’s Rest etc.”
The General also urged the public not to harbour illegal miners, whose activities, he said, have harmful repercussions for the environment and the livelihoods of residents.
This account is drawn from the SAPS media statement, a summary of the operation rather than the underlying case docket. The statement does not name the arrested men, does not give the court where they will appear, and does not say when that appearance will take place.
Source: South African Police Service (SAPS), Nine foreign nationals arrested for illegal mining in Mashobodo, as Operation Vala Umgodi continues
