A 43-year-old Zimbabwean, Josephat Bayayi, was sentenced to 15 years' direct imprisonment by die Musina Regional Court on Tuesday, 22 August, after being found guilty of trying to smuggle explosives into South Africa.
In July this year, members of the South African Revenue Services (SARS) were busy scanning vehicles at the Beitbridge Border Post when they noticed suspicious items that were loaded in an Iveco truck with a trailer. The truck was coming from Zimbabwe.
Realising that the suspicious items might be explosives, the Beitbridge border police, members of the local criminal record centre and bomb technicians were summoned to the scene. The truck was searched and the team found 14 reels of detonating fuses, 747 packets of Superpower 90 emulsion explosives, 90 blasting cartridges and 875 Carmex connector capped fuses valued at just over R455,000 and seized them.
"The driver was immediately placed under arrest for smuggling the explosives. The case was opened and the docked was later transferred to the Musina-based Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation for further handling. During the investigation, it was revealed that the explosives were coming from Zimbabwe and destined for Johannesburg in Gauteng Province," said Lieutenant Colonel Matimba Maluleke, provincial spokesperson of the Hawks, in a press statement.
"Through the meritorious efforts of the investigating officer, the accused was denied bail and kept in custody until he was convicted and sentenced by the Musina Regional Court," Maluleke concluded.