South African soldiers dismantle illegal mining operations near Johannesburg as miners flee

South African soldiers deployed in the country’s high-crime areas have dismantled illegal mining operations Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG -- South African soldiers deployed to high-crime areas have dismantled illegal gold mining operations in a community near Johannesburg, forcing some illegal miners to flee and abandon their equipment.

Police and the army recovered various tools used by illegal miners, including generators and drill machines — equipment documented by an Associated Press photographer on Thursday.

Makeshift trenches with food supplies and utensils belonging to the miners were also dismantled, with clothing items left behind after the miners fled the site in Randfontein, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the west of Johannesburg.

The operations were part of a rare move by the government to deploy soldiers in some of the country's most crime-ridden areas, including in the Western Cape province that includes the city of Cape Town and the economic hub province of Gauteng.

With dozens of abandoned mine shafts lining the outskirts of Johannesburg, illegal mining is rife in the area as heavily armed crime syndicates and informal miners known as “zama zamas” enter the shafts in search of leftover deposits of gold or other precious minerals.