South African prosecutors just froze over R12 million in stuff belonging to four alleged zama-zama kingpins after the Pretoria High Court signed off on the order. Chimene Mlambo got hit the hardest with 10 properties and 19 vehicles locked down, while Elias Christopher Ngobeni, Nason Ngobeni, and Alex Sithole also lost houses and cars tied to their supposed illegal gold-mining operation. The whole crew is already facing charges for running unlicensed digs in abandoned mine shafts and laundering the cash through real estate.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit teamed up with the Hawks to grab what they could right away, and they are still hunting for the rest of the assets scattered around. This comes after a brutal rescue mission saved 246 trapped miners but left 78 dead, showing how dangerous these underground operations get. Authorities keep going after these syndicates because illegal mining drains billions from the economy every year while poisoning communities with gang violence and chemical runoff.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit teamed up with the Hawks to grab what they could right away, and they are still hunting for the rest of the assets scattered around. This comes after a brutal rescue mission saved 246 trapped miners but left 78 dead, showing how dangerous these underground operations get. Authorities keep going after these syndicates because illegal mining drains billions from the economy every year while poisoning communities with gang violence and chemical runoff.
