A Mozambican citizen was sentenced to 10 years of effective imprisonment in South Africa for attempting to introduce a mortar grenade through the border post of Lebumbo, announced the South African authorities. The case dates back to August 23, when the Mozambican was intercepted by crossing the border of Ressano Garcia.
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28/10/2026
by
Lusa
Umozambican citizen was sentenced to 10 years of effective imprisonment in South Africa for trying to introduce into the country a mortar grenade for military use through the border post of Lebombo, announced today the South African authorities.
According to the elite unit of South African criminal investigation Hawks, the 26-year-old Mozambican citizen declared himself guilty of crimes of possession, transport and import of an explosive device into South African territory, and was convicted on Monday by the Boschfontein Regional Court in Mpumalanga province.
The case dates back to August 23, when the Mozambican was intercepted crossing the border of Ressano Garcia, south of Mozambique, at the border post of Lebombo, in Komatiport, on the South African side, during a joint operation between the South African Police (SAPs) and the country's Tax Authority (SARS).
According to the authorities, the agents detected a suspicious object hidden in the traveler's luggage, and the inspection revealed a 60-millimeter mortar grenade, a military ammunition normally used by armed forces to be fired from a mortar launcher tube.
The projectile is usually between 25 and 35 centimeters long and weighs several kilograms, carrying an explosive charge capable of causing serious deaths and injuries in a significant radius after detonation.
The South African police considered the artifact a serious threat to public security and national security.
The investigation was conducted by the Hawks' organized crime unit in Nelspruit, which subsequently forwarded the trial process.
The provincial chief of the Hawks in Mpumalanga, Major General Nico Gerber, considered the conviction “a decisive victory for justice” and a warning for those seeking to use South African borders to move weapons and explosives.
Gerber said that the seizure of the mortar grenade in one of South Africa's busiest border posts avoided a potential threat to local communities and ensured that authorities would continue to combat the trafficking of explosives and weapons.