Man appears in court for allegedly dealing in gold worth billions

The case against a 47-year-old man accused of illegal gold mining activities worth billions of rand has been postponed.

Loren Louw appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said Louw was arrested on 26 February 2015, by the Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit based in North West.

Operation “Tarantula”

“It is reported that Louw was arrested in 2015 during the execution of Operation “Tarantula” where R2.5 million worth of unwrought gold was seized.

“Louw briefly appeared in court at the time but the case was withdrawn for further investigation.

“During October 2024, Louw was served with a summons to appear in the Brakpan Magistrates court on the 25 November 2024 facing 1 176 counts of money laundering and contravention of the Precious Metals Act amounting to R2.6 billion,” Mogale said.

Mogale said the case was postponed to 17 March 2025 in the same court.

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Miners resurface

Meanwhile, the number of illegal miners that have resurfaced from mineshafts at Stilfontein mine has risen to 55.

This brings to 1,259 the number of zama zamas who have resurfaced since 18 August.

North West Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Wessels Morweng said most of the illegal miners are foreign nationals.

Arrests

Morweng, accompanied by the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Policing, Major General Patrick Asaneng briefed the media about progress made in recent days to rescue illegal miners.

“Since 18 August, about 1 259 zama zamas were arrested after resurfacing in the area. About 871 are Mozambicans, 343 are Zimbabweans, 33 are Lesotho nationals, one is Malawian, and only 10 are South Africans.

A special task team established by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is currently conducting an operation to remove illegal miners from the Stilfontein mine, aiming to end the scourge of illegal mining in the country.

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