Sikhala to appear in SA court today

Job Sikhala on his arrest on Friday.

Thupeyo Muleya-Beitbridge Bureau

NATIONAL Democratic Working Group leader Job Sikhala (53) and his associate, Alexander Thema (78), are expected to make their initial appearance at the Pretoria Magistrate Court today after they were arrested by police in South Africa for illegal possession of explosives.

Sikhala and Thema, who are in police custody at Pretoria Central, were arrested early on Friday morning while travelling in a Ford Fiesta along the N14 highway towards Johannesburg, after Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre. It is yet to be established what the pair intended to use the explosives for.

Related story: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/opposition-leader-sikhala-busted-with-explosives-in-sa/

However, according to South African authorities, the explosives are used mostly in illegal mining activities in the Free State and Gauteng provinces and for bombings of ATMs and cash-in-transit vehicles by criminals.

South African Police Service spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said police found 26 blasting cartridges and 15 capped fuse connectors in Sikhala’s vehicle.

Sikhala and Thema were arrested after a tip-off.

“The pair has been arrested and will appear before the Pretoria Magistrate court on Monday facing a charge of being in possession of explosives,” said Brig Mathe.