During conversations between civilians and soldiers one question generally keeps on popping up; ‘What are soldiers actually doing on our borderlines?” Well… the 7 South African Infantry Battalion of the South African National Defence Force are certainly answering that question loud and clear by successfully stopping its 3rd stolen vehicle for the week from crossing the South Africa/Mozambique borderline into Mozambique, averaging 1 per day for this week so far.
The first success came on Sunday 06 February 2022 at about 21h00 when a deployed section of the 7 South African Infantry Battalion soldiers, currently deployed along the South Africa/Mozambique borderline, were conducting foot patrols in Mbuzini area near Goba Village between substations 6 and 7. Their vigilance paid off as they managed to intercept a suspected stolen 2020 year model Toyota Hilux D/CAP GD 6 (White) which was about to cross illegally from South Africa into Mozambique. It was yet another case where the suspect became aware of the presence of the South African National Defence Force soldiers and abandoned the vehicle leaving it idling. The South African Military Police were summoned to the scene and activated Mbuzini South African Police Service who then recovered the vehicle to Mbuzini South African Police Station. The vehicle, which is valued at R600 000 00, was reportedly stolen in Springs (Gauteng).
However, 7 South African Infantry Battalion were not done yet as the 2nd and 3rd success came within hours apart of each other on Tuesday 08 February 2022 on different locations on the same borderline. During the early hours of Tuesday morning, at about 04h30, the South African National Defence Force soldiers were conducting foot patrols between substations 4 and 5 when they were alerted by the sound of a high revving vehicle that seemed to became stuck. The members went to investigate and discovered an abandoned 2020 year model Toyota Legend 50 (White) with no keys in it. The tampered ignition mechanism clearly raised suspicions that the vehicle was a stolen vehicle. The Tonga South African Police Service were summoned together with Mr Stroopie (vehicle tracking company) who arrived on the scene and confirmed that the vehicle was indeed stolen. The vehicle was recovered to Tonga police station.
The most recent success came at about 11h30 the same day when a vehicle patrol conducted along with the substations 6 and 7 route of the South Africa/Mozambique borderline delivered another abandoned Toyota Hilux D/Cab (Grey). The vehicle was recovered by the Mbuzini South African Police Service. The values and year models of the second and third vehicles found must still be confirmed.
It is evident that the old saying of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” sits well with 7 South African Infantry Battalion however, in their case it’s a matter of “a vehicle a day should keep criminals away”.
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