LIMPOPO – Collen Mokai (30), David Maswanganyi (41), Jan Motlapele (43), Robert Tshetshengwa (59) and Cheng Tom Chen (46) appeared in the Thabazimbi Magistrate’s Court on 5 August 2021 following their arrest by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation for illegal mining.
The accused were arrested during a disruptive sting operation between the Hawks members and National Intervention Unit on 3 August 2021 in Thabazimbi area.
The team managed to seize a truck with double trailers loaded with chrome, an excavator, a tipper truck and two vehicles (Mazda and a VW Polo) with the estimated value of over R4.5 million.
Four of the five accused, Mokai, Maswanganyi, Motlapele and Tshetshengwa were each granted R2500 bail each whilst the fifth accused, Chen was denied bail. The matter was postponed to 13 August 2021 for further bail hearing of Chen.
More operations to address the scourge of illegal mining in the province are ongoing.
