Six men believed to be illegal miners were found hacked to death and dumped in an open field along the N1 highway on the West Rand in Gauteng.
The grisly discovery was made on Wednesday morning by Faried Domingo, a member of the Bosmont Community Patrol. Covered in blood from stab wounds and said to have been stoned, the bodies were discovered near the Maraisburg Road off-ramp in Roodepoort.
“There was a shooting in the area last night and this morning, during the patrol, these bodies were found,” said Domingo.
“We assume that this stems from the illegal mining by zama-zamas. Shootings are an everyday thing in the area, which has a negative impact on the community and makes it an unsafe place to live in.”
Police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed the discovery of the six bodies and said the motive behind the killings is not yet known.
“We will be investigating a case of six counts of murder. We can say that with the information we have now, these people are believed to be zama-zamas,” said Muridili.
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