The Hawks have swooped on a mining company with Zuma and Gupta family connections, as well as the Department of Mineral Resources in a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of prospecting rights fraud.
The co-ordinated raids, in Pretoria and Kimberley, followed the laying of criminal charges by Kumba Iron Ore, the world's biggest iron-ore producer, in the wake of a controversial decision by the department to grant a prospecting permit at the Sishen mine to newcomer Imperial Crown Trading. Kumba is challenging the decision in court.
Last night, Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said they, assisted by other police units, conducted search-and-seizure operations on the premises of the Department of Mineral Resources in Pretoria and Kimberley, two premises of ICT in Kimberley "as well as a house belonging to a suspect who works for the company".
"The operation follows criminal charges lodged by Kumba," Polela said.
"The charges relate to the allocation of mineral prospecting rights. It is alleged that certain individuals from the Department of Mineral Resources were involved in the fraudulent is suing of prospecting rights."
He said documents were seized in the raids and that the Hawks were investigating charges of forgery, uttering, corruption and fraud.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that one of ICT's owners, Jagdish Parekh, a business partner of President Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane, and a family friend of the Guptas, declined to comment.
The Hawks' raid is the latest twist in a saga that has dented investor confidence in the mining sector.
ICT hit the headlines last year after it became embroiled in a dispute between the local unit of ArcelorMittal and Kumba, a subsidiary of Anglo American.
ArcelorMittal's mining rights at Kumba's Sishen mine in the Northern Cape lapsed in 2009 and ICT was awarded prospecting rights.
ArcelorMittal said last August in would buy ICT for R800-million in a BEE deal, which granted 21% of the international steel maker's local arm to the Ayigobi consortium, led by Zuma's ally, Sandile Zungu.
Members of the consortium include ANC-aligned businessmen and Duduzane Zuma's Mabengela Investments.
Members of the Gupta family reportedly earned a 6.25% stake in the consortium after facilitating the ICT deal. - Additional reporting by Reuters
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