A 35-year-old South African man, Shane Mthombeni, has been convicted and sentenced to six years in jail for attempting to smuggle a hijacked silver Toyota Fortuner to Zimbabwe.
He appeared at the regional court in Mokopane, in Limpopo.
IOL reported Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba, provincial police spokesperson in Limpopo, as saying Mthombeni was sentenced to six years of direct imprisonment, without the option to pay a fine. Said Mashaba:
The court heard that the South African citizen, Shane Mthombeni was intercepted by police while driving a silver motor vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner at Nyl Toll Plaza along the N1 Highway on Monday, October 30.
Mashaba said members of the Limpopo police’s provincial tracking team arrested Mthombeni while driving a hijacked Toyota Fortuner along the N1 freeway towards the Beitbridge border post to Zimbabwe. Said Mashaba:
The team, at the time, had reliable information which made them have reason to believe that the vehicle would be driving from Gauteng province, along the N1 highway to Beitbridge port of entry to be smuggled to Zimbabwe.
A case of possession of suspected stolen motor vehicle was immediately opened against the accused and it was transferred to the vehicle investigation unit for further handling.
After finding him guilty, the court in Limpopo also declared Mthombeni unfit to possess a firearm, reported IOL.
Povincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe welcomed the sentence imposed by the court adding that the “conviction and the sentence will serve as a deterrent to would-be car thieves”.
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