Northern Cape driver pays R15 000 fine after R77 016 in illegal diamonds found in his car
Neels Reginald Marving pleaded guilty in Springbok Magistrate's Court, five years after a Flying Squad search of his vehicle turned up two unpolished stones.
A 40-year-old Northern Cape man has been convicted of dealing in unpolished diamonds after a 2021 vehicle search in Springbok, ending a case that ran through the courts for several years.
Neels Reginald Marving entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State, which the Springbok Magistrate’s Court approved. He was sentenced to a fine of R15 000 or 30 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for three years subject to conditions. The court also ordered that the diamonds, valued at R77 016, be forfeited to the State, and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
As IOL reported on 14 October, Marving pleaded guilty in a case involving unpolished diamonds worth more than R77 000 discovered during a vehicle search in Springbok.
The case began in March 2021, when members of the Springbok Flying Squad stopped Marving in the town and searched his vehicle with his permission. According to Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Tebogo Thebe, the officers found two objects suspected to be diamonds. The objects were sent for evaluation, which confirmed they were unpolished diamonds valued at R77 016.
Marving was arrested and charged. The matter then remained before the courts for several years before he reached the plea agreement with the prosecution.
“After numerous court appearances, the suspected entered into a plea agreement with the State, pleading guilty and the court sentenced him,” Thebe said.
Springbok sits in the heart of the Namaqualand diamond fields, a region where small-stone diamond recovery has been part of the local economy for more than a century. The area’s alluvial deposits along the Orange River and the coastal strip have drawn both licensed operators and illegal diggers, and the trade in unpolished stones is policed by the Hawks and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
Under South African law, unpolished diamonds may only be traded through licensed dealers and producers, and rough stones must be offered to the State Diamond Trader before they can be exported or sold on the open market. Possessing or dealing in unpolished diamonds without the required licence is a criminal offence under the Diamonds Act.
The suspended sentence means Marving will not serve prison time provided he meets the conditions set by the court for the next three years. The forfeited stones pass to the State, which sells seized diamonds through official channels.
The case is one of a steady stream of diamond-related prosecutions in the Northern Cape. The Flying Squad unit that made the 2021 stop is a national police capability used for highway and vehicle interdictions, and its members routinely work alongside the Hawks on precious-metals and mineral cases.
