Hawks concentrating efforts to close in on illegal mining kingpins in SA
Speaking to Eyewitness News, Hawks head, Godfrey Lebeya, said they were clamping down on some of the kingpins behind these illicit mining activities.
The national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya briefing the media to outline progress and take stock of milestones achieved during the 4th and last quarter of financial year 2023/2024 on 28 June 2024. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - The Hawks are concentrating efforts to close in on kingpins linked to illegal mining activities across the country.
According to the state, illegal mining activities are costing the country billions of rands in lost revenue.
Between October and December, the Hawks arrested close to 1,500 suspects for illegal mining, the majority of which were foreign nationals.
Transnational syndicates linked to the illegal mining industry are being closely followed and monitored by the Hawks.
Speaking to Eyewitness News, Hawks head, Godfrey Lebeya, said they were clamping down on some of the kingpins behind these illicit mining activities.
"We are working with our international partners in ensuring we investigate those individuals. Some are involved in more than a billion rand, that will be put into a charge sheet. You’ll see the amount of cash we find in their possession, more than five million cash."
He said information on these arrests would be made public during the release of the fourth quarter crime stats in April.
ALSO READ: Hawks head Lebeya says they're operating at only 51% of staff complement