Four Zimbabweans and one South African in court for stealing Land Cruiser

Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent

Four local men and one South African national appeared in court today on allegations of stealing a Toyota Land Cruiser in South Africa and bringing it into Zimbabwe using a fake South African registration book and temporary import permit.

John Laseja Mkonto (37), Sibusiso Mpofu (44), Neabi Maqwawe (39), Raymond Tshabalala (29) and Pholani Nhliziyo (38) appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa on theft of motor vehicle charges.

They were remanded in custody and advised to apply for bail at the High Court. The court heard that on August 28, 2024, the accused persons stole a white Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number KLM388NW, chassis number TW1BV71J204900122 in Pretoria, South Africa.

They then generated a fake South African Registration book and fake Temporary Import Permit (TIP) in the name of Mkonto.

On September 2, 2024, Mkonto accompanied by his accomplices drove the motor vehicle and smuggled it into Zimbabwe destined for Harare.

They were intercepted at a police roadblock at ZRP Featherston. The police officers manning the roadblock asked Mkonto to produce the vehicle’s documents and he gave them the fake documents.

The officers saw that the details on the documents did not tally with those on the motor vehicle.

They found out that the registration number KLM389NW was different from the number on the vehicle’s license disc KLM388NW.

Furthermore, the motor vehicle registration book had registration number KLM388NW and it reflected that the motor vehicle was a Toyota Hilux.

On scrutinising the Temporal Import Permit (TIP) with serial number PV38719 the officer realised that the registration number was for a Toyota Hilux.

The police arrested the accused persons and impounded the vehicle. Detectives from CID Vehicle Theft Squad, Harare took over the case for further investigations.

Further investigations revealed that the chassis number on the motor vehicle TW1BV71J204900122 was different from the one in the registration book TW1BV71J20490012.

CID Vehicle Theft Squad consulted Interpol NCB Harare and it was established that the motor vehicle was reported stolen in South Africa on August 28, 2024.

Interpol NCB Pretoria Reference 3173122 and Interpol NCB Harare Reference ZWNCB/18[WL10/09/23] DM.