Sunday Tribune

‘I DIDN’T KNOW TAXI HAD A BOMB’

SHANELL DANIEL shanell.daniel@inl.co.za

SIXTEEN passengers travelling in a minibus taxi with a man carrying a bag of explosives would have been unrecognisable had the bombs been detonated.

This was according to Willem Els, a terrorism and explosives expert at the Institute for Security Studies.

Els, who is internationally recognised as a trainer, co-ordinator and focuses on enhancing bomb disposal and investigation training and mentoring of police bomb disposal units in Africa, was commenting on this week’s arrest of a foreign national who boarded a taxi in Phoenix and headed to Durban.

Hlomohang Tenki, 22, was arrested on Tuesday by the Hawks after police received information that he was in possession of 13 commercial explosives.

According to Hawks spokesperson, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, the man had boarded a taxi at the Phoenix taxi rank and was travelling to Durban Central.

“The Hawks members from the Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation and ethekwini District Task Team arrested the suspect for contravention of the Explosives Act. The taxi was intercepted on the M41, and the suspect who tried to escape was arrested.

Tenki appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody until December 1 when his citizenship ascertained and bail will be considered.

Els said the incident was a disaster waiting to happen.

“The explosives could have killed the majority of the people. I don’t know if he carried accessories like detonators because a small bump could make it explode. It is dangerous to carry them together.”

He said South Africa was a mining country and explosives were available on the black market and were also being smuggled into the country.

“We consume in excess 300 million tons of (commercial) explosives a year. In order to purchase them, you have to be registered and you have to have permits for blasting, transporting and storing them. It’s very controlled,” said Els.

However, he said there are several ways on the black-market in which people deal with explosives.

“You get unethical blasters who take explosives from the mines.

“Smuggling also occurs. For example, some truck drivers smuggle explosives and because of high traffic volumes, it is hard for the authorities to go through everything on a truck. Corruption by border officials is also an issue and even smuggling on buses,” said Els.

The driver of the taxi which Tenki had boarded said he was still in a state of shock.

He said he has since become paranoid and was now checking passengers’ bags before they entered the taxi. He asked not to be named as he was concerned about his safety.

“I didn’t know what to think when we were stopped by the police. The passenger just jumped into the taxi at

the Phoenix Plaza and asked if I was driving to Durban station.

“He sat behind me and put the bag under the seat. When we got to Umhlanga to drop off some passengers, I didn’t realise the Hawks were following me. They surrounded me as we neared La Lucia, and I

stopped (the taxi) immediately.

“They tried to get the man, but he tried to run. They managed to arrest him,” he said.

He said that he still couldn’t believe there were explosives in the taxi while he was driving.

“I went cold. There were bombs

in the taxi and I didn’t know. What if the bombs went off? Thank God we are alive. I had 16 passengers.

“Now when I’m driving and if a passenger has a bag, I check it. This is the first time in 16 years that I’ve experienced something like this,” he said.

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2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

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