Northern Cape R10 Million Gold Smuggling Case Postponed

Following the efforts of the government’s Operation Vala Umgodi, the case of 52-year-old Itumeleng Dinku, who was found with an illegal, solid bar of gold worth millions, has been postponed to July.

On Sunday, the 22nd of June 2025, Dinku was apprehended by Northern Cape authorities at Mountain View in Postmasburg, after receiving intel about a bar of gold being sold on the property. Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe, the Hawks provincial spokesperson, reported that upon arrival, officers searched the property and found a bar of gold worth R10 million. When he was unable to provide an adequate explanation as to how he got to be in possession of the precious metal, he was taken into custody.

Colonel Thebe revealed that the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation took charge of the investigation, and as a result, the accused stood before the Postmasburg Magistrate’s Court the very next day, the 23rd of June, under charges for being in illegal possession of suspected gold. The hearing was then deferred to the 7th of July, at which Dinku will be expected to apply for bail.

A man nabbed for being in possession of gold bar worth R10m

No further evidence has come to light pointing to anyone who may have assisted the suspect. However, Operation Vala Umgodi is in relentless pursuit to combat all illegal mining crimes across the country.