It’s very rare for criminals bro hand themselves over to police. It’s even more rare if those criminals are illegal miners. According to the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation, better known as the Hawks, a 30 year old man who is linked to illegal mining in the Welkom area has handed himself to the police.
Captain Christopher Singo who is the spokesperson for the Hawks in the area told the media that Douglas Tebogo Ngobeni who is an illegal miner and also goes by the name Wonder Msimango, appeared in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday the 23rd of February on allegations 3 charges. First, illegal mining, secondly money laundering, and lastly theft and corruption.
The Hawks said, surprisingly, “He handed himself over on Tuesday the 22nd of February 2022. He was in the of his legal representatives when he went to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team. He joined the other eight accused who were already arrested last year on the 15th of November 2021.
The Police Captain said, “This is an ongoing project investigation led by the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks in the Free State. It was put in place in July 2018 and it’s aimed at disrupting and dismantling the identified threat of illicit mining in Welkom and Thabong areas,”
During the course of the project driven investigation, the police made out targets that were identified as the syndicates’ members. The mining syndicates were involved in illicit mining activities and money laundering as well as corruption in the area
How the system works is very simple yet hidden. “The syndicate members are owners of various businesses that are operating legally and generate some income for their owners. Those same companies are allegedly used to launder large amounts of money generated through their illegal mining business activities.”
The syndicate use runners to illegally recruit foreign nationals to work as illegal miners, better known as zama-zamas to many South Africans. The good obtained by the miners is sold illegal gold buyers.
The case against Ngobeni was postponed to the 2nd of March 2022 for for bail application hearing.
Alleged illegal miner hands himself to the police https://t.co/GdHkMiecTo
— IOL News (@IOL) February 24, 2022
Alleged illegal miner hands himself to the police https://t.co/GdHkMiecTo
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