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Stanford Chiwanga and Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporters
OVER the years, smugglers had become adroit, arrogant and daring as they moved goods into and outside Zimbabwe without fear of molestation, thanks to a well-crafted syndicate made up of corrupt border officials and police.

The situation has however radically changed since the coming in of the Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province, Commissioner Patton Mbangwa two years ago. The smugglers break out in a sweat when they come across a billboard with the message “Welcome to Bulawayo”.

They don’t sweat because the city of Bulawayo has high temperatures, they perspire because they know that chances of them evading detection and arrest hang in the balance. The city’s traffic cops seem to have developed the ability to sniff out a smuggler from a mile away.

 

 

On July 23 last year, a South African registered truck carrying smuggled groceries worth more than R200 000 was intercepted by alert traffic police officers along the Bulawayo-Harare Road near Zuva garage as the driver, Mr Phila Vilakazi was trying to offload goods into another truck heading to Kwekwe. Three days before the Zambia bound truck was impounded, Bulawayo police intercepted a Toyota Quantum vehicle stolen from neighbouring South Africa along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway.

Fast forward to September 25, 2021, the Bulawayo Central traffic motorised patrol team stopped a bus pulling a large trailer and found that it was transporting goods smuggled from South Africa. They managed to recover beds, refrigerators, vehicle engines, washing machines, doors, door frames and an assortment of groceries.

On the first of December 2021, traffic police in the city intercepted a 34-tonne truck that was smuggling groceries worth millions of dollars. The South Africa registered 34-tonne truck owned by CTME Logistics, was intercepted at the 28km peg along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway.

The truck driver, Tendai Kavu (38), was arrested for smuggling and fraud after he failed to produce documents to prove that he had cleared the goods at the border and is helping police with investigations. The truck, which was taken to Drill Hall, had boxes of candles, lotion, stock sweets, canned beef, dishwasher, crisps, powdered milk and hair products.

This year, on March 16, traffic police officers patrolling the Bulawayo city centre, busted a vehicle smuggling racket, arrested three suspects and recovered three luxury vehicles, which were smuggled into Zimbabwe via the Limpopo River. The recovered vehicles, a Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD6 RB and two latest models of Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 RB VX DSL, had South African number plates and were suspected to have been stolen from the neighbouring country.

Not only have Bulawayo traffic police become a thorn in the flesh for smugglers, they have brought order and sanity in the city centre by impounding vehicles that pirate in defiance of the Government’s travel regulations.

https://youtube.com/shorts/tCqMIjP-VcQ

As a result of numerous operations against unregistered vehicles, pirates and unlicensed drivers, driving in the city centre of Bulawayo is now a joy. Commissioner Mbangwa said there was no secret formula to the way police in Bulawayo have turned the city into a no-go-area for smugglers.

“There isn’t a secret, per se, but it was a matter of telling everyone the purpose of manning roadblocks.

“We wouldn’t want to care about what happened with that particular truck or that person, but when they enter Bulawayo province, into our jurisdiction, we simply say, you should do your duty to the best of your abilities,” said Commissioner Mbangwa.

He said foodstuffs and alcohol are the most netted goods in Bulawayo.

“I was surprised to some extent, because huge trucks with a lot of smuggled goods would be arrested. Personally of course I was elated that at least my subordinates, those that I oversee, were doing what we had agreed on at the onset

“At times these vehicles are arrested when they are in transit as they wouldn’t be coming into Bulawayo. Most will be carrying smuggled foodstuff and illicit beers. It appears to be a racket and they are people who are working for somebody. The majority of these people are drivers,” he said.

Commissioner Mbangwa said when smugglers started feeling the heat, he received calls from various people pleading with him to loosen and to set free arrested suspects.

“For instance when one lorry was arrested, many people came down while others phoned pleading with us. Some phoned me while others phoned the provincial police spokesperson Inspector (Abednico) Ncube. People were trying to find an easier way to try and convince us so that the truck may proceed on its journey. But of course, we remained adamant that crime is crime,” said Commissioner Mbangwa.

He attributes the police’s successes to team work.

“My stay and experience in Bulawayo since I joined the City of Kings two years ago, has vastly added to the experience I accumulated during my service.

“Bulawayo is a unique province and all my predecessors got it right in terms of dynamics, composition of the society and the social terrain that influences policing in general and crime prevention in particular.

 

“Successful policing is all about team work, and Team Bulawayo is the best identity for both police officers working in Bulawayo and the public,” said Commissioner Mbangwa.

He said during his first days on the job, he met with departments and society to map a way forward in policing.

“My first important steps I took when I arrived in Bulawayo were but not limited to literature review when I sought to understand how my predecessors who occupied the same post before me handled situations and circumstances. The findings led to the holding of strategic meetings within the system, sister organisations and various stakeholders.

 

“It was in these meetings that resolutions were crafted. Each police department and section came up and understood its roles and terms of reference as well as the need to deliver. Support sections also realised the main goal of policing which is crime prevention. SMART targets were set,” said Commissioner Mbangwa.

Turning to armed robbery, Commissioner Mbangwa said there are crack teams that work very hard to bring criminals to book.

“We have very serious police officers who we rely upon, from both the Criminal Investigation Department, our police intelligence and the normal police who at times, depending on the situation, we ask to wear civilian clothing so that they are able to get information from sources,” said Commissioner Mbangwa.

He said the public were an integral part of policing as they have provided information that has helped solve various crimes over the years.

“We encourage our operatives to have as many informers as they can. Every piece of information is vital hence we take it seriously as we use some of it when deploying our crack teams,” he said.