Illegal mining crackdown intensifies, nine arrested

Nine people were arrested in connection with illegal mining. Image via pexels
Home » Illegal mining crackdown intensifies, nine arrested
Nine people were arrested in connection with illegal mining. Image via pexels
Police arrested nine suspected illegal miners during a strategic operation at Ha-Pasha, Limpopo. The suspects, aged between 22 and 44, also face charges for violating the Immigration Act.
Illegal mining has become prevalent in the province. However, the Sekhukhune District's Operation Vala Umgodi team is relentlessly committed to combating the practice. Intelligence-led officers identified the suspected illegal miners.
The suspects are currently in custody at Mecklenburg SAPS. Officers seized several items during the operation. Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Masekela Magoro, said SAPS remains committed to protecting the country's natural resources. Magoro said the police will continue efforts to dismantle illegal mining to ensure a safer, sustainable future.
The arrests come after the country's mining sector saw its sixth consecutive month of recession. Data released by Statistics South Africa showed that the mining sector had a significant decline in production, down 7.8% year-on-year in April.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the North West says it has made a significant step in the illegal mining fight. The NPA's Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order relating to about R16 million worth of gold-bearing material (GBM). These were allegedly used for unlawful activities.
NPA spokesperson in North West, Sivenathi Gunya, said the order follows investigations from 2016 to 2020. During this period, certain suspects and entities reportedly transported GBM from a dormant mine to a processing plant in Stilfontein, Klerksdorp. Thereafter, it was refined, which contravened the Precious Metals Act.
As a result, police arrested one suspect, who is expected to appear in court on Wednesday, 2 July.
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A secretive church known as the Two by Twos, also referred to as the 2x2s, has been rocked by widespread allegations of child sexual assault taking place globally over decades. A secretive fundamentalist Christian sect — widely known as the Two by Twos (2x2s), but also as the No-Name Church, The Truth, or The Way — has been rocked by an international child sexual abuse and rape scandal. A Daily Maverick investigation has found church members who reported cases of abuse in South Africa too. One of the alleged South African perpetrators in the abuse scandal, a 'worker' in the church, is still a free man — but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and South African Police Service (SAPS) are closing in. SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk confirmed this week that a historic sexual abuse case was being investigated by the police's Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. 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The incident that prompted Van Niekerk to lodge the charge against Worker A, who has also done 'missionary' outreach work in other countries, was the Dean Bruer scandal in the US. Bruer, a veteran Two by Twos overseer and 'worker' who had served in several US states and other countries since 1976, was found dead in his Best Western Mt Hood Inn hotel room in Government Camp, Oregon, in June 2022. Detroit Legal reported that nine months after Bruer died, Doyle Smith, the overseer for Idaho and Oregon, wrote a letter to members stating that evidence left on Bruer's phone and laptop showed he had raped and abused multiple underage victims. 'That was a huge prick in the balloon. That brought down the curtain,' Van Niekerk told Daily Maverick. In his letter to the church community that was subsequently posted online, Doyle Smith, reportedly a US-based 'overseer', wrote that 'we have come to the tragic conclusion that Dean Bruer had another side to his life that none of us, except the victims, ever witnessed or suspected'. Bruer, he acknowledged, 'was a sexual predator'. 'There is a very united consensus among us that the only thing to do is to be transparent with all of you for obvious reasons, though this is very difficult. We are very sorry for the hurt this will bring to the hearts of many. Thankfully, he is no longer in a position to hurt anyone,' Smith added. More than 700 names were given by abuse survivors to a hotline set up by a group called Advocates for The Truth after the Bruer bombshell. The group was formed by Cynthia Liles, a former church member and now private investigator who is assisting with the probe alongside former members Lauren Robs and Sheri Autrey. Liles is collaborating with the FBI in its investigation. She told Daily Maverick that the abuse exposed globally and in South Africa was 'just the tip of the iceberg'. The Telling The Truth website is a portal into the history of the church, while Expressions by Ex 2x2s offers a community and network for survivors. A hotline for former members in Australia and New Zealand received allegations involving about 130 separate people. In March 2024, Vancouver Island resident Lyndell Montgomery, now 49, spoke out after a minister, Lee-Ann McChesney, had abused her when she was 14. Montgomery was a member of the Two by Twos at the time. McChesney was arrested in January and charged with one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation. McChesney has pleaded not guilty and the trial is ongoing. In November 2024, Raymond Zwiefelhofer, 61, was convicted in the US on 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison. 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Evidence has emerged of the grooming methods perpetrators had deployed in the homes they were living in. Van Niekerk, who was raised in the sect, said that at least 10 other alleged survivors, men and women, had come forward in South Africa since the Bruer scandal broke. He said the evidence of abuse had troubled him deeply. 'My great-grandparents were the first in our families to join this fellowship. This fellowship is mostly scripture-based and that is why it appealed to so many people, because it is based on scripture, not on ­the dogma of man.' After spending 22 years in the Two by Twos, he could not remain silent about 'this scourge of child sexual abuse and also of adults, and the long-term suffering that these people have to endure'. Liles told Daily Maverick that she had connected with a lawyer who had been working with two survivors in 2022, after Bruer's death. Smith's letter to sect members, in which he acknowledged Bruer as a 'rapist and child abuser', led to a hotline being set up for survivors to come forward, she said. Now, as a private investigator, Liles feeds new information from across the globe to the FBI. She said the worldwide impact 'appeared to be the same all over where the church is'. 'There's just been a ton of abuse by the ministry,' she told Daily Maverick. That these sexual predators lived in people's homes, she added, placed potential young victims in their direct and intimate proximity. Children speaking out risked the wrath of family and church elders. Liles said because the abuse had occurred over such a long period, survivors in some countries had no recourse to the law, 'which makes it difficult in some parts of the world'. Some of the perpetrators identified had already died, as had some of their victims. South Africa, which has 'favourable statutes of limitations', could see the same kind of sensational arrests that had occurred in New Zealand and Canada, said Liles. South African survivor speaks out 'For me, it is about the accountability, which remains with the church. How these people [the perpetrators] are handled helps those of us who have survived to heal,' the abuse survivor in South Africa, whose case was reported to the SAPS, told Daily Maverick. 'Living with the shame and the double shame of the church, and it all being hidden is life-shattering. There have been so many victims and I feel their pain.' The survivor was sexually abused at the age of nine when Worker A was in his mid-twenties and a brother in the sect. The man had 'groomed me over time, calling me his little lamb, his helper, and twirling my hair'. At a church convention in Durban in 1983, Worker A lured the child to the edge of the grounds near a stream, where the alleged sexual assault took place. Afterwards, Worker A had threatened that 'God would punish me if I told anyone'. A day later, he offered the child 'pink musk sweets', which he described as their 'quiet sweets'. When the survivor was 16, they confided in a trusted fellow member of the Two by Twos. 'I fell gravely ill a few months later. To this day I live with multiple autoimmune diseases, which my specialists believe were triggered as the result of immense emotional trauma of the assault. 'On 20 September 2010, I found the courage to confront Worker A via an email,' the survivor said. In response, the survivor alleged Worker A admitted that he had sexually assaulted them as a child. A follow-up telephone conversation after the email prompted a similar admission. The survivor said that when they asked the man how many other children he had molested during his time in the fellowship, his chilling response was: 'What do you consider a child, as they differ so much in maturity?' The assault by Worker A had been reported to other members of the community, including overseers, said the survivor, and it had initially been agreed that he should be removed from 'the work'. 'At the time, I had trusted the workers to deal with this appropriately. However, I endured tremendous pressure from over­seers in South America to allow Worker A to continue to work there and blaming me for any 'souls' that would not be saved should he not be allowed back.' The survivor had initially 'stood down' from laying criminal charges against Worker A and also agreed not to pursue any civil action against those overseers who had been tasked with leading the collective. 'I simply did not have the physical and emotional strength to go ahead with it, but it has since come to my attention that the ­perpetrator has been having meetings in his home. 'A self-acknowledged child predator is allowed to do this,' they explained. The concern is that more children are being placed at risk as long as Worker A continues to act with seeming impunity. 'This is so deep and wide, and there are so many children at risk that the church must take responsibility,' the survivor said. DM Who are the Two by Twos? The Two by Twos is a religious group originating in late 19th-century Ireland, known for its unique evangelistic approach where members, called workers, travel in pairs. The group rejects traditional church structures, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the ordination of ministers, believing themselves to be the sole true church. The sect has a specific structure and hierarchy, although the group itself denies having a central leadership or hierarchy. There are assigned head workers, or overseers, who are responsible for members and regular workers within a region. Breakdown of the structure and hierarchy The Friends: This term refers to all members of the group. It is used to identify fellow members and as a general way of referring to the group. Within the members, there are different levels of commitment marked by practices such as 'Professing' and 'Baptism'.'Professing' involves publicly declaring one's faith and commitment to the group, typically done when a meeting is 'tested'. Members usually 'profess' between the ages of 10 and 12, and must 'profess' to speak and pray during a meeting. 'Professing' members cannot participate in communion until 'baptised'. 'Baptism' is a rite of passage signifying commitment, typically occurring during the teenage years. Baptism is done by full immersion, rejecting sprinkling and infant baptism. Baptised members are considered fully committed and eligible for communion. A term used for former active members is 'Lost-out'. The Elders: These are members responsible for leading a specific church or meeting, typically held in their home on Sundays. Elders uphold the structure of in-home meetings, are responsible for starting and ending the service, are the last to speak and pray, and lead communion. They are expected to be respected and followed. If a worker is present at an in-home meeting, they usually take on most of the elder's responsibilities The Workers: These are members given the responsibility of spreading the group's beliefs through evangelism, travelling from home to home. They are considered equivalent to ministers in other religions. Workers almost always travel in pairs of the same gender… This practice is a core belief, based on Luke 10:1, and is seen as providing support and accountability. Workers are expected to dedicate themselves fully to spreading the message. Workers must adhere to all the rules for regular members but to an even higher extent, dressing more modestly, and prioritising their relationship with God even more. They spend long periods reading the Bible and praying. Workers are expected to have limited possessions, relying on the generosity of others. They typically travel with just one suitcase, although possessions like smartphones, tablets and laptops are now common. They usually do not own vehicles, but are often provided one within a field. Workers rarely have a designated home and are expected to constantly move from home to home, usually staying only a few days in one place. They are rarely given time to see their families. Workers are expected to be celibate and are not allowed to be married, a mandate established by 'overseers'. There is a hierarchy within the group of workers, with brother workers generally considered to be of higher esteem than sister workers. The Overseers: This refers to a leader responsible for all workers and members within a given region, which can be a state or multiple states, or even an entire country in smaller areas. Overseers are always male members and are typically senior workers who have been in the ministry for many years. They oversee the work of others and provide guidance and direction. The Head Overseer: This is a leader responsible for all overseers within a specific area. The only known examples are in the US (eastern US) and potentially Australia. A head overseer is in charge of the overseers in their designated area and also has their own region of responsibility. Structural units for the work also include: Fields: These are subregions within an overseer's larger region. Each field typically has a minimum of 100 members and is generally made up of a city or multiple towns. Two workers are usually assigned to a field to spread the message, organise meetings, provide spiritual guidance and arrange gospel meetings. In the name of God Two things have become apparent while researching this depressing and sadly not-so-shocking Two by Twos church scandal. It is neither the scope or how long it has been allowed to continue and been covered up, nor the lifelong scars this has left on thousands upon thousands of victims and survivors. These are a special class of survivor — those of religious predation and abuse; individuals whose very spiritual core has been shattered and wounded by the entitlements of male church hierarchies claiming a perverse power and hold over the souls of those they 'save' in the name of God. The words we use The first is that the word 'pornography' does not describe the scourge of child torture, sexual assault and rape that takes place. Most often this is filmed and photographed, and distributed among networks. Pornography is for adult consumption. This is something much darker and depraved. We should insist on calling it what it is. Secondly, surely it is time for the recommendations of the 2017 Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission report into the Commercialisation of Religion and Abuse of People's Belief Systems to be acted upon. The commission's recommendations to amend existing legislation to protect congregants and believers, and for religious organisations to register with the government, was resisted by the religious establishment. Eight years later in April this year, the commission announced that a Section 22 Committee led by Prof Musa Xulu will work towards the establishment of a peer review council to protect congregants from harm. There is enough evidence — and it mounts daily — that religion is being weaponised by self-appointed prophets and preachers in positions of 'leadership' to exploit 'followers'. This greed is performed for either financial gain, or political power or perverse sexual enjoyment. Sometimes it's all three. The Two by Twos pustule that burst globally in 2022 is just one scandal among many. From deviants in the Catholic and Anglican Churches, to the Pentecostal pastors who force congregations to eat grass or touch their genitals during a 'service', many have dark secrets to hide. The victims are, in every single instance, women and children, boys and girls, who are rendered powerless by religious dogma and scriptures set in stone. In the eyes of these 'holy men', those in the flock lower down in the hierarchy are biblically sanctioned possessions. Apart from registering as tax-free institutions, a matter of debate when it comes to mega-millions mega-churches selling tax-free holy water and underpants, what other controls exist? What prevents anyone from declaring they are their own Personal Jesus? As did the notorious South African paedophile Gert van Rooyen (alongside his partner Joey Haaroff), who is believed to have kidnapped and murdered six young girls in South Africa between 1988 and 1989, before shooting Joey and himself as the police closed in on him. Pieter van Zyl details in his book Gert and Joey, how Van Rooyen converted to Christianity while in jail for the rape of two 12-year-old girls and, upon his release, established a congregation that he led. Van Rooyen operated in the apartheid era, but people like him thrive under the cloak of religious protection today because we live in a secular society where freedom of religion is guaranteed and a constitutional right. Surely then the Constitution should protect citizens from horrific and criminal exploitation when it occurs in this realm? 'Established' religious institutions in South Africa are allowed a high degree of autonomy and are not subject to government control. That is democracy. As Public Benefit Organisations, there is no need for religious organisations to pay tax, and that is it. What then to do with the criminals who hide behind the Bible and religious garb? What checks and balances exist to stop such horrific accounts of abuse, over years and generations, leaving broken lives? Leon van Niekerk, the Two by Twos member who reported abuse to the South African Police Service, shows us how we can use the Constitution to put the fear of the law into abusers of all shapes and sizes.

The South African

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