Samuel Makuyana (29) Moses Mukatini (18) and Lagos Dliwayo (26) all Zimbabwean nationals were each convicted to three years imprisonment on charges of possession of precious metals and being in the country without legal travel documents (illegal immigrant) when they made their final appearance before Tlhabane Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday,19 March 2024.
Reports revealed that in July 2023, the trio was spotted by members from Bidvest Protea Coin Security for Impala Platinum mine received information about the suspects who were allegedly loading platinum from UG2 pipeline into bags. They were arrested with four bags of material to wit platinum. The matter was reported to the police and the case was handed to the Rustenburg based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team who successfully investigated the matter.
Following a series of Court appearances, the trio was equally convicted as follows:
Count 1: Two years direct imprisonment for possession of Precious metal to wit Platinum.
Count 2: One year imprisonment for being in the Country without legal travel documents.
The two sentences will run concurrently, thus they will each spent two years of imprisonment.
