Is the Alleged Zama Zama “Kingpin” South African? Magistrate's Court Debates Validity of Citizenship

• One of the alleged zama zama kingpins claimed in court to be a South African citizen
• An immigration officer refuted the accused citizenship claiming he received it fraudulently
• Mothusi Letsogo told the Carletonville Magistrate's Court that there is no proof that the accused was born or grew up in SA

CARLTONVILLE - One of the accused in the zama zama kingpin case swore up and down that he was a South African Citizen in the Carletonville Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, 19 October.

Dumisa Moyo, who was arrested with five others in connection with illegal mining, told the court that he was born in Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom and had lived in South Africa his whole life.

Immigration officer Mothusi Letsogo contradicted Moyo's claims telling the court that in 2020 he investigated the ID of the accused and suspects that Moyo obtained the documentation fraudulently and through misrepresentation.

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Letsogo stated that during the investigation, he discovered that there was no record of Moyo's birth, and archives only contained a form with basic information on the alleged kingpin and an address.

Letsogo suspects that an element of corruption was involved because one cannot receive an ID without filling out a B124 form which was missing from the archives, TimesLIVE reported.

According to EWN, the home affairs official also told the court that he visited the hospital Moyo claimed to have been born in and the local schools he said he attended, but all places had no record of Moyo's existence.

Moyo's citizenship was brought up because the alleged zama zama mastermind was asking to be released on R2000 bail for the charges of fraud, money laundering and infringement of the Precious Metals and Immigration acts.

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South Africans react to the Zama zama 'kingpin' citizenship debate

South Africans took to social media to weigh in on one of the zama zama kingpins' citizenship status.

Here are some comments:

Tower_Tiloditec claimed:

"He's an illegal immigrant...Period!"

@CashNonprofit lauded:

"PATRIOTS, let's give Mothusi Letsogo [immigration officer] a warm round of applause for exposing zama zama kingpin fake citizenship in court."

@CetshwayoG added:

"The investigator knew what he was doing. Great job"

@Reginal24984547 commented:

"I saw it yesterday and was so happy about it."

Hawks Gauteng team raided alleged Zama Zama kingpins’ homes, six people arrested & luxury cars seized

In a related story, Briefly News reported that the Hawks have taken action against illegal mining in South Africa and are now raiding the homes of alleged zama zama kingpins in Carletonville and Khutsong, Johannesburg.

The raids kicked in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 4 October and six people have been arrested.

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According to TimesLIVE, the Hawks Gauteng team is being supported by Home Affairs officials, and in addition to the arrests, they have also seized a few luxury cars. The raids are still ongoing.

Source: Briefly News