The two policemen who were arrested are from the detective and uniform branches in Virginia. Different security departments of the different mine houses, namely Goldfields Limited, Harmony Gold Mining Company and AngloGold's Joel helped to identify and arrest the syndicate leaders. Ernie Janse van Rensburg, commander of Welkom's gold and diamond unit, says this operation was highly successful and is part of a national project to curb and expose the theft of gold and corruption of mineworkers and gold plant workers in what is seen as one of the biggest successes yet in clamping down on gold smuggling. The operation was directly aimed at gold plants because it is there that the most gold, which is already in an advanced stage of being refined, is stolen. He says the gold mining industry is a national asset and the life line of the Free State Goldfields.
Many jobs are in danger because of the extent of gold theft.
An average of 30 ton of gold, worth R158 million, is stolen annually in South Africa. Janse van Rensburg says unemployment plays a large role in gold theft, which then creates even more unemployment. The unemployed see gold theft and smuggling as a profitable and an easy income. The syndicates and groups now involved in gold smuggling are well-organised. This is why this operation was so successful.