Stilfontein Operation, North West- a total of 246 illegal miners have been retrieved as the death toll rises to 78 from the gold mine in the North West on Wednesday.
On the third day of the operation, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) , has confirmed the arrest of 216 illegal miners in the ongoing operation since its launch on Monday, 13 January 2025.
An update was provided by the NATJOINTS on Wednesday evening, confirming the arrests and facilities. A breakdown of the nationalities of those arrested emphasizes that illegal mining activities take place across different countries. With 128 Mozambicans, 80 Lesotho nationals, 33 Zimbabweans , and five South Africans taken into custody.

Despite the significant number of arrests, there is still uncertainty about whether all illegal miners have been extracted from the mine.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said it has been indicated that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has to verify this and that they will rely on the Mine Rescue Service to confirm using their state of the art equipment that will be able to give them a picture of what is happening underground.
The Mine Rescue Service has confirmed that they will send the cage underground in the morning to see if an illegal miners resurface with the cage. We cannot say for sure that the operation has been called off at this stage. We will provide an update tomorrow morning on site again.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Patrick Asaneng is expected to provide further details on the operation during a media briefing scheduled for Thursday, 16 January 2025.