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South African security forces arrested more than 200 mostly undocumented foreign nationals during a major anti-crime operation at a gold mine shaft west of Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The joint raid involved police, soldiers, and private security guards working together under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “Operation Prosper,” an initiative that deploys 2,200 military personnel to help police combat illegal mining and gang violence.
Authorities apprehended 217 individuals—including more than 100 undocumented migrants from Lesotho alongside citizens from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa—and confiscated various weapons and ammunition.
Ramaphosa has labelled organised crime the country’s most immediate threat, as thousands of unregistered miners continue to scavenge abandoned shafts under perilous conditions.
Driven by regional poverty and high unemployment, this illicit sector fuels broader networks of global organised crime, extortion, and assassinations.
The targeted crackdown coincides with a larger national push against undocumented migration, which has already prompted thousands of foreign nationals to return home following intense pressure from local groups.
