SUSPECT FOUND TAMPERING AND ALTERING LEGAL DOCUMENTS ALLEGEDLY TO ASSIST ZAMA-ZAMAS
By: Neo Ntsele
On Monday, 7 September 2026, members of the Parkweg Crime Prevention Unit were conducting routine patrols, visiting areas of concern and identified crime hotspots as part of OperationShanela2.
Internet cafés at Old Market Complex have previously attracted fraud suspects.
The members visited one of the cafés at the corner of Henry and West Burger Streets.
An African male was discovered altering and editing details on a Green Republic of South Africa identity document.
The police asked him for an explanation, which he was initially unable to provide.
Further searches revealed in his black backpack identity documents with varying details, passports, birth certificates, death certificates, smart cards altered with falsified pages, proof of birth documents for the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho, and pro-forma affidavits already stamped but not completed by a police official.
The operation included the Department of Home Affairs Counter-Corruption Official, and a search was conducted at Phomolong Informal Settlement where confidential DNA documents, documents with the Code of Arms, bank statements, and SASSA affidavits were found and processed by Local Criminal Record Centre personnel.
The 43-year-old foreign national then told the officers he was assisting his zama-zama [illegal miners] associates.
A case docket of fraud, altering and tampering with legal documents, possession of suspected stolen property, and violation of the Immigration Act was opened at Parkweg Police Station.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court soon.
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