Pretoria - A 31-year-old man has appeared in the Temba Magistrate's Court in Gauteng, charged with the possession of explosives.
Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation [Hawks] in Gauteng, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, said luck ran out for Talent Zangeni when the taxi he was travelling in to Limpopo was stopped by members of the cross-border response team at the Carousel Toll Plaza.
“Upon authorities’ request for the driver, including his passengers, to vacate the taxi, one of the passengers allegedly jumped out of the taxi and fled while shooting at the police.
’’Police searched the taxi and one of the passengers was found with detonators inside his luggage,” said Mulamu.
The shooter evaded police and fled the scene.
Mulamu said members of the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation team in Johannesburg focusing on national priority and violent crimes, together with the Pretoria explosives unit, Gaubullet, the South African Police Service’s crime intelligence, the local criminal record centre and the Hamanskraal trio task team, responded swiftly to the crime scene for a preliminary investigation.
“Further investigation revealed that the accused, Talent Zangeni (31), was travelling from Daveyton to Vuwani in Limpopo. He was immediately arrested and charged with illegal possession of explosives,” said Mulamu.
“He was remanded in custody pending the investigation. The case was postponed to Wednesday, 6 October 2021.”
Last year, a 27-year-old suspect was arrested at the Beitbridge border post by members of the Limpopo police and the Musina Bomb Disposal Unit while attempting to smuggle explosives into the country.
After having been directed to the searching bay, a total of 115 units of blasting cartridges and 100 units of explosives accessories were discovered in the truck.
At the time, Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the 27-year-old was reportedly travelling from Zimbabwe to Alberton, Gauteng.
The explosives were carried in packaged boxes and had been loaded inside the truck’s trailer.
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