Accused to spend more than 8 years in prison

Agreement Siwela (30) has already started serving his jail term following his conviction and sentencing by the Musina Regional Court on 12 July 2023 for unlawful possession of explosives.

On 15 February this year, members from Musina SAPS received a tip off about someone who was in possession of explosives at a certain house at Matswale Phase 2 in Musina policing area.

Without any waste of time, the police tactically visited the house and found the accused. The house was subsequently searched and the police found 2 units of Connector Capped Fuse and 2 units of Blasting Cartridges valued at R171-00 (one hundred and seventy one rand).

When the accused was questioned about the explosives, he could not give a satisfactory answer nor produce any documents to be in possession of explosives.

If a person breaks the law, what follows is arrest. The accused was then arrested and the case was transferred to the Musina based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation for further probe.

Indeed, the case was seriously and meticulously investigated, as a result, another charge of being in the country illegally was added.

Although the accused attempted to convince the court to release him on bail, the investigating officer made a valiant effort to successfully oppose the bail. As such, Siwela was in police custody until he was convicted and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of commercial explosives. He was further sentenced to R10 000-00 or 8 months imprisonment for contravening the Immigration Act.

The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Limpopo Province, Major General Gopz Govender has extolled the vigilance and swiftness of Musina Police as well as the excellent detective work done by members of the Hawks. Furthermore, he sincerely appreciated the outstanding work done by the prosecution team.

Source: South African Police Service