Boss of a Zimbabwean gold syndicate is said to have acquired fake South African ID cards

An investigation into illegal gold mining has revealed how one of the accused obtained a fake ID 12 years after arriving in South Africa.

The Minister of Home Affairs investigating the case found that Leon Magwaca, real name James Sigauke, had been issued a fake identity card at the Department of Home Affairs in Carletonville on the West Rand in 2015.

Court documents seen by Sowetan show that he was made the son of a Western Cape mother, allegedly without her knowledge.

On Wednesday, Magwaca and his co-accused appeared for a pre-trial hearing in the Pretoria High Court. Their trial is scheduled for February 2025.

Both the state and defense have agreed to meet in court in November to finalize the logistics of the trial. They plan to set aside six weeks next year for the trial.

According to the state, Magwaca was the deputy of Bethuel Ngobeni, the boss of the syndicate. He is said to have facilitated the illegal transactions and was involved in four gold transactions worth R652,000.

The State alleges that Magwaca, in collaboration with the Home Affairs official, invented a fictitious name which was then added to the birth certificate in the Population Register, thereby appearing to be the son of a certain Nobongile Magwaca, who was a resident of Daveyton, Ekurhuleni.

A Home Office official was tasked with locating the woman, but no one knew her at the address in question in Daveyton on the East Rand.

“I continued to search the population register for all children registered under Nobongile Magwaca. Through the information I received in Sassa, I was able to call [Odwa Magwaca]one of the alleged siblings of Nhlanhla Leon Magwaca [Sigauke]who lives in Nyanga, Cape Town. Odwa denied knowing anything about Nhlanhla Leon Sigwaca,” the official said in a statement.

Sowetan has learned that the woman has since died.

The Home Office official said Magwaca changed his mind in a statement a year later, saying he was actually from Chipinge in Zimbabwe, had obtained his South African ID and passport illegally and that his real mother was Linah Sigauke, who lived in Zimbabwe.

In 2022, Magwaca received a notice from the Department of Home Affairs of intention to cancel his South African identity card.

One of Nobongile's daughters, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I don't know him at all.”

Home Affairs spokesman Siya Qoza did not respond to Sowetan's questions on Tuesday.

According to the state, Magwaca used his bank accounts to make transfers to purchase a VW Golf 7R worth R712 000, a Renault Clio (R70 000) and a Toyota Hino truck (R310 000).

It is alleged that Magwaca registered the vehicles in the name of his wife, Neo Susan Duba. In March, the Asset Forfeiture Unit seized 51 vehicles, seven houses and 16 bank accounts belonging to the syndicate members.

The state has since discovered that Magwaca came from Zimbabwe in 2003 and was known as James Sigauke. Magwaca allegedly used his fake ID to amass assets for the gold trading syndicate.

Ngobeni was also exposed on suspicion of stealing the identity card of a man from Mpumalanga.

Last month, the UK Home Office warned that almost 700,000 ID cards were at risk of cancellation if holders did not explain by September 26 why they were still valid.

The authority stated that it wanted to take action to combat fraud involving ID cards and identity documents.

According to the state, Magwaca and his alleged syndicate made millions of rand by buying stolen gold-bearing material from miners and selling it at inflated prices on the black market.

Lerato Bathebeng, Poppy Mathongwane, Dumisani Moyo, Duba, Moseki Sechele, Thabo Sechele and Kudzai Mashaya are the other accused in the matter.