A 31-Year-Old Mystery Solved: With International Suspects

In a remarkable bust that bridged three decades, police in Belfast, Mpumalanga, have arrested two foreign nationals and recovered a haulage truck stolen in Gauteng and a car taken in 1993a year when Nelson Mandela had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The discovery has exposed a potential chop-shop operation with international links.

The operation began with a tip-off about a stolen truck with Mozambican registration plates, robbed from its owner in Elsburg, Gauteng. Members of the Middelburg Flying Squad, a tracking company, and local Belfast police followed the lead to a property on Bhekimuzi Masango Drive.

A Truck in Pieces and a Story Unraveled

At the address, they found two menone from Malawi and the other from Zimbabweworking with mechanics on the vehicle. The men claimed ownership as business partners, but a verification test confirmed the truck as stolen. It had already been partially stripped for parts. Police seized eight tyres and other components as evidence.

The 1993 Surprise in the Same Yard

A broader search of the yard yielded an even more startling find: a blue vehicle with Mpumalanga plates. When officers ran its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), it pinged as a vehicle wanted in connection with a theft reported in Berea, Gauteng, in 1993. The car, missing for over 31 years, was booked for further forensic investigation.

The two suspects now face charges of possession of suspected stolen property and a stolen motor vehicle, as well as contravening the Immigration Act. Their arrests highlight the persistent and cross-border nature of vehicle theft syndicates, capable of holding onto stolen assets for generations. For the original owner of the 1993 car, the recoverythough decades latefinally closes a chapter of loss that had long been considered a cold case.