Illegal gold diggers await their fate

Three illegal gold miners who appeared briefly before Francistown Magistrate last week Friday will know their fate once police forensic tests on an object suspected to be gold was found in their possession two weeks ago near Mophane Gold mine by an adjacent farm. Appearing before Senior Magistrate Kose Makobo, George Rusere and two others did not waste time as they pleaded guilty to a single count of being found in possession of a mineral without a licence as per the local penal code.

State prosecutor Gasemotho Pitlagano however informed the court that they were yet to verify if some of the objects found in the accused’s possession were indeed gold. Pitlagano disclosed to this publication that it would be suicidal to make presumptions on an alleged mineral without testing it to prove that indeed it is the that said mineral.

According to the particulars of the offence, the three accused persons were caught by the police following a tip off from some farm workers who strongly believed that the trio was mining gold illegally, hence they were arrested at the illegal mining spot before being found in possession of stones suspected to be gold. Surprisingly, cases of gold panning in Botswana seem to be on the rise as supported by recent court appearances of illegal gold miners like in other neighbouring countries including South Africa, Zimbabwe and many other African countries where gold panning is a means of living. The trio will appear before court on the 26th of February 2018 for facts reading.