Suspected illegal miner hands himself to the police

A 30-year-old man linked to illegal mining in the Welkom area handed himself to the police, the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation, better known as the Hawks, said.

Spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said Douglas Tebogo Ngobeni, also known as Wonder Msimango, appeared in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for allegations of illegal mining, money laundering, theft and corruption.

“He handed himself over on Tuesday, 22 February 2022, with his legal representatives to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team and joined the other eight accused who were already arrested last year, 15 November 2021.

“This is an ongoing project investigation led by the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks in the Free State, which began in July 2018, aimed at disrupting and dismantling the identified threat of illicit mining in Welkom and Thabong areas,” he said.

Captain Singo said during the course of the project-driven investigation, the alleged targets were identified as the syndicates’ members who were involved in illicit mining activities and money laundering as well as corruption.

“It is alleged that these syndicate members are owners of various businesses that are operating legally and generate some income. However, those companies are allegedly used to launder large amounts of money through their illegal mining business activities.”

He said they allegedly use runners to illegally recruit foreign nationals to work as illegal miners, better known as zama-zamas, and then obtain the gold-bearing material and sell it to illegal gold buyers.

The case against Ngobeni was postponed to March 2 for bail application.

-IOL

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