A 42-year-old Zimbabwean national will on Monday appear before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court after he was arrested and charged for possession of a stolen vehicle.
The recovered Toyota Land Cruiser 200 belongs to Mandla Mandela, a former Member of Parliament and grandson of late former president Nelson Mandela.
On Friday morning, Limpopo police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the sport utility vehicle was intercepted in the getaway province, while it was on its way to being smuggled into neighbouring Zimbabwe.
The man who was driving the vehicle was apprehended in the Lebowakgomo policing area outside Polokwane.
The 42-year-old Zimbabwean national was also charged for contravention of the Immigration Act after it was established that he had entered South Africa illegally.
In another case, a 32-year-old South African man is also scheduled to appear in court after he was arrested in Limpopo for possession of a white Toyota Land Cruiser Prado which was also stolen in Gauteng.
The vehicle was intercepted last week after police received a tip-off about a stolen vehicle that was on its way to being smuggled into neighbouring Zimbabwe, through the Beitbridge port of entry.
“The (police) team responded promptly, and a white Toyota Prado VX, which was reported stolen on Monday, August 5, in Villieria policing area, Pretoria in Gauteng province was spotted at the R37 from Lebowakgomo to Polokwane,” said Ledwaba.
The police intercepted the popular SUV, and upon searching it, Ledwaba said the driver, “who is a South African national, was unable to produce the valid documents of the vehicle”.
The man was apprehended on the spot for possession of a presumed stolen motor vehicle.
“The police established that the vehicle, a white Toyota Prado, is at a value of R900,000,” Ledwaba added.
IOL