The grim discovery is the latest in a series of incidents related to illegal mining in the Krugersdorp area.

South African police are making investigations into the discovery of at least 21 bodies found near an active privately-owned mine in the town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

The bodies are suspected to be that of  illegal miners operating in the Krugersdorp area.

Police, revealing that 19 of the bodies were discovered on Wednesday afternoon and two on Thursday morning, said they are suspecting that the bodies had been moved to the location they were found in.

Confirming the discovery of the second set of bodies, police spokeswoman Brenda Muridili said on Thursday: “We can confirm that this morning our search and rescue team went back to the scene and, as they were searching, they discovered two more bodies. They retrieved them from an open (mine) shaft.”

The grim discovery is the latest in a series of incidents related to illegal mining in the Krugersdorp area, which happens to be a mining town on the western edges of Johannesburg.

In July, an incident had occurred there, where eight female members of a film crew, who had been working on a music video shoot in an abandoned mine, had been robbed and raped.

The incident had sparked violent protests against illegal miners in surrounding communities.

Last week, 14 men suspected of being illegal miners had been arrested during police raids on the abandoned mine in connection to the rape of the eight females.

The men, who are currently being accused of coming into South Africa illegally and also have immigration charges against them, had been charged with rape and robbery.

However, after police failed to establish a connection between the men and the rape cases through DNA evidence, the rape and robbery charges had been withdrawn against them.

Illegal mining is rife in South Africa, with miners, known locally as “zama zamas”, searching for gold at the many disused and abandoned mines in and around the Johannesburg region.

Illegal mining gangs, who are usually armed and known for fighting violent turf battles with rival groups, are considered dangerous by the police.

The illegal trade is believed to be dominated by immigrants, who illegally enter South Africa from other neighboring countries like Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.