It took the Hawks four years to finally crack a syndicate behind illegal mining in Gauteng. Operation Gillette by the Hawks intercepted seven alleged  illegal mining kingpins from Khutsong outside Carltonville. Residents of Khutsong, outside Carltonville, got the shock of their lives when they discovered that their neighbour is one of the illegal mining kingpins.

NEIGHBOURS WONDERED WHAT HE DID FOR A LIVING

Residents watched in awe as seven cars belonging to their neighbour lined up outside the yard. Luxury cars including a Range Rover Evoque, Audi A3, VW Troc, Polo GTI, Golf R, Renault Clio and a Ford Raptor parked outside as cops raided the house. One of the neighbours said she hardly saw the  people living in that house because it was forever quiet. "We would sometimes see their children when they came out to play but the parents kept to themselves. They have a lot cars and we wondered what jobs they were doing," she said. Another neighbour said that the suspect was very loving and he had just bought her a bottle of whiskey on Monday.She said people were jealous of the suspect and labelled him as pompous just because he was private. "He's been my neighbour for years and we've always been on good terms. However, I never bothered to ask what he does for a living because I don't like sticking my nose where it doesn't belong." She said she was surprised when she saw so many cops at the house. "I knew that today wasn't just a friendly visit from the cops. just this past Saturday there was a braai and there were local  cops chilling at my neighbour's house. It's nothing new it's something he did for them once in  a while, I wonder if they knew how he made his money," she said.

A FOUR-YEAR LONG OPERATION

The Hawks' Katlego Mogale confirmed the arrest of seven out of eight suspects. She said this was an Operation formed in  2018 targeting illegal mining kingpins. "This is the conclusion of operation Gillette, which began as enquiry four years ago and since then six sting operations have been conducted. Today it has culminated in thee arrest of seven suspects who are purported to be between level 2 and 3 of the illegal mining syndicate. The Hawks have been carefully working on arresting the men behind illegal miners."

LUXURY VEHICLES SEIZED

She said 13 high performance vehicles were seized and this brings them to the conclusion of level 2 and 3 shifting the focus to level 4 and 5.
"Level 1 is the groundsmen, the zama zamas. Level 2 and 3 are buying the precious metals and process it and then sell to level 4 and 5.
The suspects will appear at the Carltonville Magistrates Court.
"We took two people of interest in for questioning after they came to the scene hid their cars and walked to us, as if wanting to know what's happening. This was at the first location and at this stage we suspect that they might have been in contact with the suspect," Mogale said reffering to the eighth suspect who has been giving them the run around. She said the suspects have not been linked to the shooting at Nomzamo tavern and Kagiso.

FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING

They are charged with fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Precious Metals Act. SAPS district commissioner for the West Rand, General Fred Kekana said he was pleased with the arrests but believes it was not to their best capacity because more arrests have to be made. "The investigations are still ongoing, it's been very hectic since the Krugersdorp incident (where eight women were raped by zama zamas while shooting a video). The Hawks with us have managed to unravel these kingpins. Up to now we've managed to recover 14 high powered vehicles, including and a truck. They are the proceeds of crime. We will continue to clean them out. Investigations are an ongoing process  today is just the beginning of the bigger picture. Anyone who says SAPS is not doing anything will eat humble pie today. We are still going deeper, the process requires other relevant role players. We have seized the vehicles through the process of the courts,"he concluded.