Calling illegal immigration a 'huge problem', Senzo Mchunu told Parliament: 'The overall fundamental issue is border management'.

Listen to this article 5 min Listen to this article 5 min Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told Parliament on Tuesday that the Stilfontein mine tragedy, in which 93 illegal miners died and nearly 2,000 were arrested, was a consequence of South Africa's insecure borders.

Calling illegal immigration a "huge problem", the minister said: "The overall fundamental issue is border management". He was addressing a joint meeting of Parliament's portfolio committees on minerals and petroleum resources, and police.

Police top brass and officials from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources briefed the committees on illegal mining and derelict and ownerless mines, respectively.

The acting North West police commissioner, Major General Patrick Asaneng, said a total of 944 police officers took part in the operation at Stilfontein from August 2024 up till March 2025 at a cost of R23-million for deployments and R9.8-million for overtime payments.

Asaneng said the majority of the illegal miners were undocumented migrants.

"In the main, the people that came to the surface were Mozambicans, who accounted for 1,128; Zimbabweans, 473; South Africans, 26; Basotho, 197; and one Congolese and one Malawian," he said -- a total of 1,826.

"All these suspects were charged with, among others,...