ZIMBABWEAN NATIONAL SENTENCED FOR IMPORTATION OF UNAUTHORISED EXPLOSIVES
The Musina Regional Court has convicted and sentenced a Zimbabwean national, Prosper Takunda Henry Mumbure (34), to 16 years direct imprisonment for the importation of unauthorised explosives and failure to appear before court. The accused pleaded guilty and stated that on 17 November 2022, he was driving a truck at the Beitbridge port of entry from Zimbabwe to South Africa, when the SARS and police officials inspected the truck and realised that it had many explosives. They searched and found 17x reels of detonating fuse, 1250x units of connector-capped fuses, and 2569x units of blasting cartridges marked solar explosives hidden in the truck.
The accused failed to appear before court on his next court date, after being released on bail and that resulted in the warrant of arrest being authorised against him. He was then found and arrested again on 04 April 2023, by the members of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation Unit (DPCI).
In aggravation of the sentence, the state prosecutor, Jan Krijt, submitted that the accused has been convicted of a very serious offence, one of which the legislature has imposed a minimum sentence of 15 years. 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.
The NPA welcomes the sentence and applauds the good work done by Prosecutor Jan Krijt, SARS, and Captain Cornelia Chauke of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation. We hope that the sentence would deter would-be offenders of these types of crimes.
