A 37-year-old Zimbabwean national, Joseph Kungwengwe, has been sentenced to six years in prison after being caught driving a stolen Toyota Corolla Cross in Limpopo.
The vehicle was recovered on December 29 near Mokopane after law enforcement officials received intelligence about a car suspected to have been stolen in Gauteng. Authorities tracked the vehicle as it made its way along the N1 highway towards the Beitbridge border, where it was believed to be headed for smuggling into Zimbabwe.
Police intercepted the vehicle near the Zebediela Toll Plaza and arrested Kungwengwe on the spot. He was later convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle and handed a direct prison sentence by the Mokopane Regional Court.
The provincial police commissioner commended the officers involved for their efforts in curbing cross-border vehicle smuggling.
In a related incident, another man, 31-year-old Mikael Mlambo, was recently apprehended while allegedly attempting to smuggle a different stolen Toyota Corolla Cross out of the country. That vehicle had been reported stolen in Pretoria and was intercepted by officers from the Flying Squad while traveling at high speed along the same highway.
Authorities continue to warn that criminal syndicates are increasingly using major routes like the N1 to transport stolen vehicles out of South Africa, with the Beitbridge border frequently being a target for such activities.