BLING KING IN DRUGS STING

CONVICTED King of Bling William Mashobane Mbatha was busted on two separate occasions for allegedly running a drug cartel at Zonderwater Prison this year alone.

Mbatha, who is serving 135 years in the prison outside Mamelodi in Tshwane for various crimes, was allegedly caught with a coffee tin full of mandrax tablets in January this year.

We also learnt that he was busted for possession of dagga by prison officials last week in a raid that also yielded more than R10 000 in cash from his person.

Mbatha was handed over to the Cullinan Police Station where he was charged with possession of drugs in January relating to the alleged mandrax haul but the case was withdrawn by the Cullinan Magistrate s Court.

He will appear in the same court soon for possession and dealing in dagga relating to last week s case.

Spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services in Gauteng Ofentse Morwane confirmed that Mbatha was nabbed for what looked like drugs in January this year.

The Department can confirm that the offender in question was found in possession of what was suspected to be drugs in his single cell. This was after routine search operations, which are conducted daily in correctional facilities as part of security measures,” he said.

Morwane said the confiscated tablets were handed over to the police who sent them to their laboratory and results of tests were still pending.

As far as the department is aware, the nature and substance of the confiscated items has not been confirmed as yet,” he said.

He said Mbatha was criminally charged for possession of drugs in January but the case against him was withdrawn by the Cullinan Magistrate s Court for unknown reasons

The inmate was also charged internally. He appeared before a disciplinary committee and action was taken against him,” he said.

He did not divulge what actions the department took against Mbatha.

Morwane also confirmed Mbatha was caught for the possession of dagga and they reported him to the police.

He was found in possession of dagga (5.003KG). A criminal case was opened against him. He was also charged internally. He appeared before a disciplinary committee yesterday (Wednesday, 29 April 2015), and action was taken against him,” he said. He did not reveal what action was taken against him.

Three independent sources, two prison warders and one an inmate, confirmed that the notorious gangster from Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria was caught on two separate occasions for allegedly possessing and dealing in drugs.

Mashobane, as Mbatha was widely know in and around Tshwane, rose to fame for driving around in expensive cars, owning jet skis and throwing money at patrons at his popular pub, Ram Square Cafe in Atteridgeville.

Among other acts that catapulted him to infamy was to pop expensive champagnes at his pub or at local parks during picnics and emptying its contents onto the ground.

He also always wore two expensive wrist watches at the same time and owned a litany of motorbikes and a holiday home at the picturesque Hartbeespoort Dam.

One of the prison warders, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said the warders at the facility shook in their boots every time they had to work in the section where Mbatha is housed as he was too powerful and kept a lot of money in his cell

Everyone is afraid to lose their job because Mashobane is living large in prison. He has lots of things that other prisoners do not have because he throws around money. Some of us who are not corrupt are worried that we might be victimised for trying to do our jobs properly.

The guy is having fun in prison. He wears expensive cologne, belts, jewellery, sunglasses and shoes. He also updates his Facebook page from prison. How is that possible? We are really in trouble with this guy,” said the guard.

A second warder said the reason for the January raid that allegedly netted mandrax was due to the strange behaviour of some prisoners.

We got a tip off that these guys were high on drugs. We raided all the cells and found Mashobane with a big tin of coffee full of mandrax tablets. We also found more than R10 000 on him,” said the second warder.

The warder said the Mandrax tablets were seized and sent to a laboratory for forensic tests but they were surprised when the management told them it was not drugs but medicinal tablets.

The warder also said the management told them the moolah they confiscated from Mashobane disappeared from police s safe keeping facility known as SAP13.

This man runs a syndicate and some of the officials are in his pocket. It looks like the tin which contained the tablets was interfered with,” said the warder.

Morwane refuted allegations that the tin containing the drugs was interfered with and that the cash had disappeared.

The SAPS Cullinan has confirmed that the cash handed over to them is in their safe custody,” he said.

The warder said that Mbatha had been a trouble maker since he arrived at the prison in 2012.

We once caught him in possession of Cuban cigars. I don t know how they bypassed our security system,” said the warder.

An inmate, who did want to be named, said what happened in Zonderwater was just a tip of the iceberg as Mashobane was running a big drug ring that stretched to other jails.

He is part of a big syndicate which also sells drugs in Baviaanspoort Prison. He eats fancy food and wears designer clothes,” said the inmate.

Efforts to contact or visit Mbatha in prison proved fruitless.

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