BAPONG - Socioeconomic conditions appear to be forcing some residents in the town of Bapong to accept illegal mining.
Some of them stand to benefit financially from allowing digging on their property.
One of those doing the excavations was arrested by police on Thursday morning.
READ: Police flood Bapong as illegal mining crackdown intensifies
It was neighbours who alerted police to the illegal mining activity.
It's the same community that is said to benefit from illicit operations by allowing the excavations in the first place.
But this, according to Mining-Affected Communities United in Action, is a means to an end in tough economic times.
There's no word yet on the miners believed to be trapped under rubble in one of these Modderspruit mounds.
No rescue or recovery mission is in place just yet.
The arrested man will make his first appearance at the Brits magistrate's court.
- eNCA's Hloni Mtimkulu reports.