A Zimbabwean national who was found transporting explosives at the Beitbridge border was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Musina Regional Court in South Africa.
Prosper Takunda Henry Mumbure (34) pleaded guilty to the charges he was facing.
Mumbure told the court that on 17 November 2022, he was driving a truck at the Beitbridge port of entry from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
When the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and police officials inspected the truck, they realised that it had explosives.
They searched the truck and found 17x reels of detonating fuse, 1250x units of connector-capped fuses, and 2569x units of blasting cartridges marked solar explosives hidden inside.
NPA regional spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi was quoted by IOL as saying:
The accused failed to appear before the court on his next court date after being released on bail and that resulted in the warrant of arrest being authorised against him.
Malabi-Dzhangi said that after the warrant of arrest was issued, the accused was then found and arrested again on 04 April 2023, by the Hawks.
In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, Jan Krijt, submitted that the offence carried a minimum sentence of 15 years. Added Malabi-Dzhangi:
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 further said that the NPA hopes that the sentence would deter would-be offenders of similar crimes.
More: Pindula News
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