‘Illegal mining kingpins’ languish in jail as lawyers ask for more time

Five of the nine people accused of being illegal mining kingpins will continue to languish in the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria for another month as their lawyers asked the court for more time to go through the indictment before the start of their trial. 

The accused are Bethuel Ngobeni, 38, Nhlanhla Leon Magwaca, 26, Thabo Prince Sechele, 34, Moseki Sechele, 28, and Khudzai Mashaya, 45. They will spend another month in jail while their legal representatives go through the state’s indictment in order to prepare their defence for the upcoming trial. 

Ngobeni, Magwaca, the Sechele brothers, Dumisani Moyo, 35, and Mashaya made their second court appearance at the Pretoria High Court on Friday.

Ngobeni, Magwaca, and the Sechele brothers were denied bail in December 2022. Mashaya abandoned his bail application. Moyo was denied bail in October 2022, but was granted bail last year after appealing at the Pretoria High Court. 

Ngobeni, Magwaca, the Sechele brothers and Mashaya are in custody while they wait for the start of their trial. 

Illegal mining kingpins

The six men who are alleged illegal mining kingpins appeared alongside three other female accused. They are Lerato Bathebeng, 37, Poppy Mathongwane, 35, and Suzan Duba, 30. The three females were each granted bail of R2, 000 in September last year. 

The six men are facing charges including unlawful dealing in precious metals and fraud and money laundering. Ngobeni, Magwaca, Moyo and Mashaya also face four counts of being illegal in the country (violation of the Immigration Act). 

Bathebeng, Mathongwane and Duba are each facing a charge of money laundering.

During court proceedings on Friday, acting judge Matlapeng postponed the case of the nine suspects to September 2 2024. This for a pre-trial hearing after the defence lawyers made a request that they need more time. 

This case emanates from a criminal investigation by the Hawks. They were looking into a registered project called Gillette in 2018. This with the specific purpose of infiltrating a syndicate that dealt in unwrought gold.

According to the state, the six men part of this syndicate. They are accused of illegally buying gold-bearing materials (amalgam) from legal mining workers. The men are also accused of buying it illegally from the Zama-Zamas. They then process the materials into gold nuggets and sell it around the Johannesburg area. But the main buyers are unknown at this moment, according to the state.

Syndicate mainly foreign nationals operating in Carletonville

The syndicate is mainly composed of foreign nationals from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Some members of the syndicate acquired South African identity documents fraudulently, said the state. 

According to the state, it is alleged that the six men operated these unlawful activities  in the Khutsong area in Carletonville. The state alleges that the six men illegally collected precious metals from disused and abandoned mines. They then processed and sold them.

It is further alleged by the state that with the proceeds they got from these, they bought properties using falsified names. 

Bought assets for wives and girlfriends

The state also alleges that Magwaca is Duba’s boyfriend, and Ngobeni is a husband to both Bathebeng and Mathongwane. Both men bought movable and immovable assets with the proceeds of crime in the name of their partners. Therefore, the partners unduly benefited from the proceeds of crime. 

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Mpho Koka