In the past three months, 36 vehicles have been recovered and 22 suspects arrested in the ongoing car smuggling incidents on the Mpumalanga borderlines with Mozambique.
Now, the community of Mbuzini is living in fear. They allege that cars are smuggled in broad daylight through the border fence between South Africa and Mozambique.
Residents share concerns over car smuggling in the area:
Destined for Mozambique and beyond, these vehicles were impounded by law enforcement officials. They were being driven out of the country, using this route that passes through the village of Mbuzini in Nkomazi.
They’ve been either stolen or hijacked in different areas across the country. Residents suspect the smugglers may be working with some community members.
“There are people here in Mbuzini, who know the roads to use to smuggle the cars, they are the ones who show these smugglers which roads to use to get through to Mozambique,” a community member says.
“They are not doing well, no one is taken by police for questioning or whatsoever, they fail to stop the smuggling of cars so they are not doing well,” another community member explains.
The Community Policing Forum in Mbuzini is calling for intervention from all stakeholders.
“We hope that all stakeholders involved can meet CPF, the police and SANDF to discuss maybe there might be a way to fight this crime because things are bad, it seems like we are a banana republic,” says Samson Mbimbili: CPF Mbuzini.
Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe says government is concerned with the increase in the hijacking and smuggling of cars.
“We have a programme as provincial government that is called border management programme where I visit all the borders in the province as well as SAPS to deal with those matters to deal with the stealing of big vehicles to your neighbouring countries,” says MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaisonin Mpumalanga, Vusi Shongwe.
This smuggling of cars continues despite the deployment of border guards a month ago under the Border Management Authority Act.
Two hundred BMA border guards have been entrusted with providing security to vulnerable segments of the borderline.
