The Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Godfrey Lebeya says more than 720 individuals have been arrested and there have been 220 convictions and sentences secured during the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year.
Lebeya provided details of these achievements during a media briefing in Pretoria, attributing the high number of arrests to cases involving fraud, corruption, and dealing in precious metals and diamonds.
One notable case highlighted by Lebeya involved the arrest of three people in Parys for the exchange of gold for cash between the Free State and Gauteng provinces in November last year.
“Sixteen nuggets of unwrought gold worth R4 579 800 in cash were recovered and four vehicles seized. The suspects appeared before the magistrate in Parys on 27 November 2023 for contravention of the Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005, and again on 29 January 2024,” says Lebeya.
He adds that two of accused, both South Africans, are out on bail while the third accused, a Mozambican national, is remanded in custody.
Hawks brief media on national priority offences
