…Lesotho girls being sex-trafficked to South Africa 

Mohloai Mpesi 

EFFORTS by the government to uproot the notoriously violent ?famo?gangs, whose criminal activities have elevated Lesotho into being one of the most homicidal nations in the world, could prove futile unless they are complemented by serious efforts to target their sponsors in South Africa. 

Their illegal mining activities – from whence they get their wealth to sponsor their criminal networks – are being financed by wealthy and influential syndicates in the mining sector, mostly in South Africa, the?Sunday Express?has been told. 

On May 10 2024, Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government issued Legal Notice No.40 of 2024 titled ‘Internal Security (Declaration of Unlawful Organisation) Notice, 2024’, banning the violent?famo? gangs and their music, which they use as a pretext to legitimise their organisations. ? 

But the banning has had little effect as members of the?famo?gangs continue with their murderous streak with impunity. 

The?Sunday Express?has been made to understand that the?famo?gangs, are deeply embedded within South Africa’s own zama-zama syndicates, who in turn, are heavily financed by wealthy businesspeople and politicians who illegally export gold to mainly Dubai. 

The manner in which powerful people are benefiting from the zama-zamas (illegal miners) partly explain why there has been little action in South Africa to try and rein-in illegal mining. 

Financing the illegal zama-zamas ensures sustenance and continuity of gold supplies to the black market of the wealthy and influential. 

Wealthy businesspeople refine and smuggle the gold from the zama-zamas out of South Africa. 

This is all according to the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU)’s senior investigator, Nkosi Mradla, who is based in South Africa. 

He says the so-called zama-zama syndicates are sponsored by ‘rich folks’ in the neighbouring country. 

In a recent interview with the?Sunday Express, Mr Mradla described the zama-zama trade as one of the get-rich-quick-schemes that had become popular?in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.???? 

Mr Mradla was interviewed by this publication on the sidelines of the ‘Training for Financial Investigators and Prosecutors to Strengthen Lesotho’s Anti-Money Laundering Campaign’ that kicked off in Maseru last week Monday and concluded on Thursday. 

The four-day seminar was aimed at bolstering Lesotho’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. 

The event was supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of which the DCEO is part of.? 

The workshop comprised two parallel workshops for investigators and prosecutors.? 

It was officially opened by Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) Advocate Knorx Molelle. 

Some of the experts attending the programme hailed from Botswana, South Africa and Namibia as well as other Southern African countries. 

The workshop was designed to enhance the capacity of Lesotho’s prosecutors in applying effective asset confiscation methodologies and practices. 

Local participants included officials from the offices of the DCEO, ?Director Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS).? 

Mr Mradla explained that he had experience in probing the zama-zama syndicates, whom he had learnt were comprised of “highly funded individuals”. 

“I, personally have experience of zama-zama investigations…..Most of their mining activities are especially in Bloemfontein and Welkom.? Zama-zamas who have been arrested there come from the SADC region ?from countries like Zimbabwe, Lesotho and others,” Mr Mradla said. 

“Yes, the support for the chain of syndicates is very huge. It comes from the highest points of the market. What I mean about the market, is that you can’t mine gold only to put it in your house to decorate your furnisher….. You can’t buy to keep it. 

“It (gold) always goes somewhere. So, there is ?demand, and that demand goes up to the top of the market (to the wealthy) and goes internationally.” 

“It is not farfetched to believe that rich folks continue to fund these operations so that they can continue to access ?minerals,” Mr Mraza said. 

“If that market does not operate, it means these guys will not be able to get the gold at the end of the day. They fund operations because the gold must go to refineries, which in turn export it abroad….. 

Mr Mradla ?said? the high criminal activities in mining were being underreported. 

“The rate of financial crimes is underreported in Africa. What we know now is little compared to what is happening underground. There are many offences that are not reported because people frown upon reporting these types of offences because of fear of reprisals,” he said. 

“There is a lot of money going to South Africa from Lesotho, some of which we don’t know about until it has been reported by the department which has lost the money. Some hide it hoping that it won’t be recovered.” 

For his part, Adv Molelle told the?Sunday Express?in another side interview, that zama-zama syndicates were one of organised crimes that local security agencies had rolled up sleeves to try and tackle. 

He said the rampant killings were perpetuated by zama-zama elements armed with illegal guns. 

“We have a challenge of illegal mining in South Africa called zama-zama. There is a high murder rate in the country perpetuated by the zama-zamas with illegal guns. Our country has gained popularity for murders,” Adv Molelle said. 

He said the security agencies were rolling their sleeves to try and get on top of the situation. 

“When you ask yourself why these killings continue unabated, you will observe that they result from these illegal guns…..Our security agencies are already working hard to resolve the problem,” Adv Molelle said. 

“Let’s consider stock theft. It is one of the organised crimes happening almost every day. Livestock are stolen and these days they (criminals) collect them in daylight. They don’t come at night only because they are armed with illegal firearms. 

“The crimes happen in Lesotho but its root cause is in the neighbouring South Africa where criminals get their wealth…..” 

Some of the?famo?gangs are now well equipped better than the police – in some instances – because they have money to buy weapons. Leaders of the gangs have become fabulously wealthy. Some have become investors in South Africa. 

The Lesotho zama -zamas take their fights for control of the illegal shafts back to Lesotho where they sponsor revenge killings targeting their rivals and their family members. The killing of five persons from one family in Fobane Village, Leribe, in April was a case in point. 

Meanwhile, the Lesotho 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, indicates the zama-zamas recruited young girls to exploit them for sex trafficking. 

“Traffickers connected to organized crime syndicates operating in South Africa allegedly exploit Basotho men in derelict and ownerless gold mines.??Some of these miners, known as “zama zamas”, recruit young girls in Lesotho to exploit in sex trafficking in South Africa.??Traffickers also compel Basotho to commit crimes in South Africa, including theft, drug trafficking, and smuggling under threat of violence,” the report reads. 

So, the government’s decision to ban?famo?gangsters could be woefully inadequate as already shown in increasing crime statistics?since the ban. It needs serious coordinated efforts with South African national crime fighting agencies to go to the root of the problem.?