South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in Mpumalanga had a busy October doing border protection duty, recovering R3 million worth of stolen vehicles and R6 million worth of dagga.
5 South African Infantry (SAI) Battalion is currently deployed along the borders of South Africa, Mozambique, and Eswatini under Operation Corona. Its first vehicle recovery success for the month came on the morning of 13 October when Charlie Company troops in the Zonstraal Area of Responsibility were busy manning a Listening Post at Waverly. They found an abandoned Toyota Legend twin cab, which was discovered to have been stolen in Potchefstroom. The vehicle, valued at R900 000, was handed over to Oshoek SA Police Service.
A second incident, on the evening of 19 October, occurred in the Macadamia Area of Responsibility in the Dludluma area. The Operations Officer received a call from a car tracking company requesting assistance tracing a Toyota Hilux single cab that was hijacked at Naas with the driver still inside. SANDF troops recovered the hijacked vehicle at Dludluma and the vehicle was towed to Tonga SA Police Service. The victim was taken to Tonga Hospital. Lieutenant Fundiswa Samantha Xaba reported the value of the hijacked vehicle is R700 000.
A third vehicle incident on 19 October saw the SANDF receive a call about a Ford sedan that was suspected to have been involved in a house breaking and robbery in the Dludluma area. SA National Defence Force members were activated to join the SA Police Service in chasing and intercepting the vehicle in question at Matshotshombeni, Tonga Block C. The driver of the vehicle managed to flee but the vehicle was taken to Tonga SA Police Service. Suspected stolen goods were found inside the car: an LG Plasma TV valued at R8 000, a sound mixer valued at R5 000, and a Samsung Plasma TV valued at R8 000.
On 21 October around 20:15, the Charlie Company Commander received a call from the Border Management Authority informing him about a stolen Toyota Hilux at the Oshoek Area of Responsibility. The suspicious vehicle was spotted outside Oshoek shops and on closer investigation, it was found that the vehicle registration papers were falsified. One suspect (a South African citizen) was apprehended and the vehicle – valued at R930 000 – was impounded at Oshoek.
Xaba reported that the total success of 5 SA Infantry Battalions since the start of their tour of duty in September amount to just over R13 million. A substantial amount of this came from numerous drug seizures. On 11 October, for example, Charlie Company patrolling in the Oshoek area came across eight abandoned bags of dagga weighing 215 kg and with a street value of R903 000. The bags were handed over to the SAPS.
A day later, in the Mahamba area, Charlie Company found seven abandoned bags of dagga weighing 100 kg and with a street value of R423 000. The dagga was handed over to the Mkhondo SA Police Service.
The following day, 13 October, saw another drug seizure when Charlie Company soldiers were manning an observation post in the early hours of the morning around Monzana. They came across a Toyota bakkie loaded with 865 kg of dagga worth an estimated R3.6 million The dagga, driver (a 37 year old South African), and bakkie were taken to the Mahamba police station.
Two further dagga seizures rounded out 5 SAI’s October successes: on 15 October, a Jetta driven by an Estawini national was stopped near Waverly in the early hours of the morning and found to contain 37 kg of dagga in three bags worth R156 576. Then on 27 October near Emahlathini, Charlie Company stopped a bakkie containing 289 kg of dagga worth R1.2 million. Two suspects were apprehended and handed over to Piet Retief police.
These successes amounted to a total of 1 507 kg of dagga worth R6.33 million seized during the month. “This demonstrates the commitment and dedication of the SA National Defence Force to protect the sovereignty of the state,” Xaba reported for the SANDF.
