Six soldiers of (SANDF) were nabbed for allegedly conniving with vehicle smugglers to smuggle stolen vehicles through the Limpopo River in exchange for cash.
Captain Matimba Maluleke, Hawks spokesperson, said the six soldiers aged between 30 and 51 with military ranks ranging between Lance-Corporal and Private were arrested on Monday.
“The soldiers were deployed at Beitbridge Border Post to defend and protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of South Africa between 2017 and 2019.
“Instead of carrying out their constitutional mandate of ensuring national security at the borders, they allegedly connived with vehicle smuggling syndicates to smuggle stolen vehicles through the Limpopo River in exchange for money.”
Maluleke said it is further alleged that the soldiers would demand R15 000 per vehicle that would be shared among themselves.
“A project driven investigation dubbed “Night Vigil” was instituted to probe deeper into the matter.”
He furthermore said the soldiers were on the radar of the police until they were arrested by the team in North West, Northern Cape, and Free State provinces.
All the arrested soldiers are expected to make their first court appearance in the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 23 June 2021.
Maluleke said the arrests of the soldiers were in response to the scourge of cross-border crimes in South Africa.
The arrests were made in collaboration with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Crime Intelligence, National Intervention Unit, and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya hailed the collaborative efforts by the integrated team to vigorously fight and root out corruption in the public and private sectors.
“We certainly hope that our joint team efforts will inspire confidence in the entire civil servant and the South African community at large.
“Those who are entrusted with the responsibility to protect and serve must never be tempted by dirty money from organized criminal groups, otherwise, the lessons will be learned the hard way”, said Lieutenant General Lebeya.