Foreign national sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of explosives

Patrick Tonderai Hungwe (24) is already serving his jail term following his conviction and sentencing for unlawful possession of explosives by the Musina Regional Court on 26 July 2023. On Thursday, 30 March 2023 the vigilant Beitbridge Border Police were busy searching people and vehicles at Beitbridge search bay when they noticed a suspicious person on the bus carrying a bag. The bus was travelling from Zimbabwe to Gauteng Province.

The police approached and requested to search the bag. Upon searching the bag, they found 19 units of safety fuse, 17 units of blasting cartridges and one green blasting cartridge to the value of R2562-00. The accused failed to produce a permit to be in possession of those explosives and he was immediately placed under arrest.

These kind of explosives are usually used by illegal miners and Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) bombers.

The case was transferred to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime investigation based in Musina. Hungwe was never granted bail until he was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment.

Source: South African Police Service