A man arrested for illegal possession of explosives appeared in the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Limpopo police said.
Colonel Ronel Otto said Nkosinathi Ndlovu was arrested in the early hours of Thursday.
“A Zimbabwean man travelling in a taxi from Zimbabwe to South Africa was arrested at the Beit Bridge border post in the early hours of this morning [Thursday] while attempting to smuggle explosives into the country.”
She said the minibus taxi was stopped for a routine search of all passengers and a sniffer dog reacted positively to an item of luggage. A search revealed 30 pieces of explosives, without detonators.
The case was postponed to November 28.
In a similar case on Wednesday, a Zimbabwean man, Zikhala Busane, appeared in the Musina Magistrate’s Court after police found 13 blasting cartridges and 13 connector cap fuses in the overheard luggage compartment of a bus entering the country from Zimbabwe. Police had stopped the bus for a routine search.
“Initially, no passenger took responsibility of the explosives but the police’s investigative prowess linked Zikhala Busane to the illegal explosive devices,” said Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
The matter was postponed to November 27.
A Zimbabwean woman Elita Sibanda, 23, was expected to appear in the same court on Friday for a similar offence.
Mulaudzi said Sibanda was found in possession of 26 plastic cartridges and 100 detonators while on a bus from Zimbabwe to South Africa last month. She faces charges of unauthorised supply or possession of explosives or incendiary devices. – Sapa
