Truck driver sentenced to 15 years in prison for smuggling explosives

A truck driver has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for smuggling explosives from Zimbabwe to South Africa.

Alois Kamwaza was stopped by border police at Beitbridge in July. Police subjected his truck to a mandatory search and found explosives hidden inside a toolbox in the back of the truck, said Limpopo Hawks spokesperson Capt Matimba Maluleke.

The explosives — 779 units of blasting cartridges and three reels of detonating fuse with an estimated value of R200,000 — were destined for Gauteng.

Kamwaza remained in custody until his sentencing by the Musina magistrate’s court.

In a separate but similar incident, an undocumented foreign national was also sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for unlawful possession of explosives.

Wilman Mwando, 40, was arrested in May when members of the military saw a man acting suspiciously while walking at the Beitbridge port of entry.

“They approached him, searched his bag and found 489 units of blasting cartridges with a value of R146,700. He was in police custody until he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment by the Musina magistrate’s court on November 4,” said Maluleke.

Mwando was also found guilty of failing to use the port of entry to enter South Africa and for entering and remaining in the country without legal documentation. He was fined R5,000 or three months imprisonment on each offence.

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