Five zama zama kingpins have been proven to be foreign nationals after giving false identities in their statements. This information was revealed by a home affairs official during their second appearance at the Oberholzer Magistrates Court in Carltonville. Five of the accused abandoned their bail applications for various reasons according to their defence.
ONE SUSPECT APPLIES FOR BAIL
Accused number one and two share the same defence and three and four also have the same defence. Accused number has his own defence as well as six. Accused number five Eric Dumisa Moyo continued to apply for bail. His defence Advocate Jurg Huysamen tabled reasons why his client should be granted the R2000 bail. Huysamen read out Moyo's statement:" I do not have a passport because lost it in 2020 and have not applied for it ever since. I am from Welkom and have no intention of leaving the country. I only left the country once on vacation.I'm married and have an unemployed wife and kids I need to take care of."
HE WON'T BE PLEADING GUILTY
He said he owns a vehicle workshop and earn approximately R30 000 a month from it, depending on inflation. "I also earn an additional R50 0000 from buying and selling cars." Moyo said he denies all the allegations levelled against him. The statement continued to say :"Police came to my house at 5:30 am. They banged the windows and doors. My wife opened the door and they claimed they had a warrant for my arrest. They ransacked the house and took some of my electronic devices including a laptop. All this happened in the presence of my children since it was school holidays. They found nothing, therefore I intend to plead not guilty to any of the charges tabled against me."
CLAIMING TO BE SOUTH AFRICAN
Mothusi Goodhope Letsogo took the witness stand and explained that he is employed by the Department of Home Affairs as an immigration officer for the past 18years. He said he is qualified to do all the investigation of misrepresentation and fraud including buying of identification documents. He told the court,"In 2020 I received mandate through our chief director to investigate case of illegal immigrants." Letsogo said during his investigation on accused number five, he went through the records and looked for a notice of birth a BI24 that reveals his birth history, the hospital and area, as well as who his mother is. "No records of this form were found for him at Home Affairs. Clearly he was assisted by Home affairs officials to acquire a fraudulent ID," he said Letsogo explained that one can't get an ID if they don't have a BI 24.
" Theres another form a BI 9 that a person fills in when they apply for an ID and this one was found and linked to his previous address. I managed to get a statement that was written by accused number five. He claimed that he was born in Bongani Provincial Hospital in Welkom. The mother is Zimbabwean and is late."
"I went to the hospital and was given a letter by the CEO of of the hospital who denied that the accused was born in that hospital. The CEO said the hospital was opened in 1993 and the accused was born in 1987. I also went to the two schools he claimed to have attended also in Welkom but he was nowhere to be found on their records. " The accused claimed that he only left the country once for vacation but Letsogo proved otherwise.
" I've checked his movements from in and out of the country and indeed he had a South African passport but he is frequently going to Zimbabwe. Normally he stays for a month there. This is information retrieved from 2010 to 2021. His Last movement was in April 2021 and he came back in May 2021. With all this information I've concluded that Moyo is not a South African and it is clear that he obtained his documents fraudulently,"said Letsogo.
CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL MINING
The six men were arrested on the 4th of October in Khutsong, Carltonville for their involvement in the illegal mining syndicate. During their arrests, 14 high powered vehicles and a truck belonging to the accused were confiscated by the Hawks. The Hawks Katlego Mogale said their arrest was the conclusion of operation Gillette, which started in 2018 targeting illegal mining activities.
