By Business Reporter | A 33 year old Zimbabwean gold smuggler was caught in South Africa with gold pieces worth more than twice that former ZIFA boss Henrietta Rushwaya was apprehended with.

The unnamed male had successfully flown out of Zimbabwe with more than $780,000 worth of cleaned gold pieces.

Gauteng Province Executive Council member Faith Mazibuko made the disclosure Sunday evening stating: “The preliminary investigation by the Hawks revealed that the suspect travelled from Harare, Zimbabwe to Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The 23 pieces of gold worth R11 million were seized for further investigation,” she said.

The man will appear at the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday facing charges of contravening the Customs Act 91 of 1964 and Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005 respectively.

“The traveller was requested to scan his luggage at international arrivals Customs section of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) where 23 pieces of gold were found in his luggage… The Hawks were called to effect the arrest and further investigate. The 23 pieces of gold worth R11 million were seized for further investigation,” a Hawks statement said.

The development comes against the backdrop of that of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s neice Rushwaya who was arrested with USD300,000 worth of gold pieces last year.