Zimbabwean man jailed 15 years for transporting explosives in South Africa

A Zimbabwean national who was allegedly found transporting explosives at the Beitbridge border has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He was sentenced and convicted by the Musina Regional Court on Wednesday.

This comes after Prosper Takunda Henry Mumbure, 34, pleaded guilty.

He stated in court that on November 17 2022, he was driving a truck at the Beitbridge port of entry from Zimbabwe to South Africa.

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When the SARS and police officials inspected the truck and realised that it had explosives they searched and found 17x reels of detonating fuse, 1250x units of connector-capped fuses, and 2569x units of blasting cartridges marked solar explosives hidden in the truck.

“The accused failed to appear before court on his next court date, after being released on bail and that resulted in the warrant of arrest being authorised against him,” NPA regional spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said.

Malabi-Dzhangi said that after the warrant of arrest was issued, the accused was then found and arrested again on April 4, 2023, by the Hawks.

In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, Jan Krijt, submitted that the accused has been convicted of a very serious offence, one of which the legislature has imposed a minimum sentence of 15 years.

“He then said that crime wherein explosives are carried, is a prevalent crime in this court’s jurisdiction.

“He further told the court that these types of offences are destroying our country through illegal mining, cash in transit, and ATM bombings.

“He concluded by saying that the offence has serious consequences for the safety of our people and the stability of our economy,” Malabi-Dzhangi said.

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Malabi-Dzhangi further said that the NPA welcomes the sentence and applauds the good work done by Prosecutor Jan Krijt, SARS, and Captain Cornelia Chauke of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation.

“We hope that the sentence would deter would-be offenders of these types of crimes,” Malabi-Dzhangi added.