4 Cops in North West Court for Aiding and Abetting Alleged Illicit Mining Kingpin Tiger’s Escape

• The policemen arrested for aiding an alleged illegal mining kingpin known as Tiger, from Lesotho, appeared in court
• The officers allegedly assisted Tiger to escape from a shaft at the abandoned Stilfontein gold mine on 15 January 2025
• Their aiding and abetting and defeating the ends of justice case was postponed to May for further investigations

Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist at Briefly News. A Head of Current Affairs, Mametela reported live from the presidential inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa and has written articles on politics, crime, courts, accidents and other topics, including sports, at The Herald and Opera News SA, among others.

KRUGERSDORP — Four police officers charged with helping alleged illicit mining kingpin Neo James "Tiger" Tshoaeli escape lawful custody during the rescue and arrest of Stilfontein illegal miners appeared in court.

Warrant Officers Jack Motlhabya and Menzi Shabalala, and Sergeants Ntuthuko Dladla and Samkelo Mbotho face defeating the ends of justice and aiding and abetting charges.

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4 Criminal cops appear in court

The quartet, who were part of the Operation Vala Umgodi task force under the National Intervention Unit (NIU) at the abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine, were arrested on Friday, 31 January 2025.

They appeared in the Stilfontein Magistrate's Court the same day.

An Anti-Corruption Unit investigation following the disappearance of Lesotho national Tiger from a shaft at the sealed-off mine on 15 January pointed to their alleged involvement.

Throngs of arrested illegal miners were detained at the Stilfontein police station while being processed and before appearing in court.

However, Tiger was never booked into the cells.

During the officers' scheduled brief court appearance on Wednesday, 5 March, the court postponed the case for further investigations.

They will next appear on 29 May, while they remain out on R1,000 bail each.

During earlier Vala Umgodi operations at Stilfontein, several illegal miners identified Tshoaeli as the one who called the shots while holed up underground.

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What you need to know about Stilfontein

• Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni promised to smoke out illegal miners amid their standoff with police
• Starving illegal miners reportedly resorted to eating dead miners' flesh to survive after food supplies underground dried
• Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) nonprofit slammed the government's handling of the situation
• Authorities defended the level of healthcare provision, including HIV treatment, to illegal miners following a death
• Police launched a corruption investigation within its ranks after alleged illegal mining kingpin Tiger escaped from a shaft

2 Free State female cops in court

In a related story, Briefly News reported that two Free State female police officers are set to reappear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Friday, 7 March after their viral assault video of a civilian.

The pair face charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) after viciously beating a woman who had reportedly gone to notify the police of a gender-based violence (GBV) incident committed against her.

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The incident happened on 19 January with the woman later reporting it to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

Source: Briefly News