Truck driver caught with minerals worth millions in Richards Bay

A 44-year-old truck driver is expected to appear before the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court this week after stolen Zircon and Chloride minerals worth R15.5 million were found in his possession.

The man was handcuffed on Monday.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said a task team had been deployed to the Richards Bay area for some time to prevent and combat the theft of minerals as well as the assassination of mining executives.

Task team

Mathe said police followed up on information and the driver’s truck was found abandoned in the Kwabonambi area.

“Further investigation led the team to an address in Durban where the minerals were found. It was later discovered that the minerals had been stolen from Richards Bay Minerals (RBM). A case of theft of mineral is under investigation.”

Mathe added that since the deployment of this task team to Richards Bay, 43 accused have since been arrested for charges ranging from murder, theft, trespassing, possession of suspected stolen property, unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition, fraud and intimidation.

“68 dockets are currently under investigation.  47 of these cases are before various courts while 202 firearms have also been confiscated in the last three years. These includes rifles, handguns and shotguns.”

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Hits

In 2016, RBM manager Ronny Nzimande who was involved in investigating charges against senior staff at the company, was murdered after he was ambushed by suspects with semi-automatic firearms. More than then 20 shots were fired at Nzimande’s BMW X5.

In July 2020, 48-year-old Judia Mbuyazi who was also linked to RBM, was gunned down at a mall in Richards Bay.

A year later on 4 May 2021, RBM  General Manager  Nico Swart, died in a hail of high-calibre bullets after he was also ambushed while driving to work.

Two weeks ago, Police Minister Bheki Cele together with the National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola met with the business community in the area where all parties jointly committed to strengthening working relations and deploying more police officers to the area to prevent and combat acts of criminality related to the mining sector.

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