Convicted hijacker, smuggler gets 53-year prison sentence

JOHANNESBURG - A convicted hijacker and smuggler has been handed a 53-year prison sentence for charges including murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Sipho “Smirnoff” Mhlanga was sentenced along with his accomplices at the Ingwavuma Magistrate's Court.

Mhlanga was arrested in August 2023 by a national task team in northern KwaZulu-Natal, deployed to clamp down on cross-border crimes.

The 37-year-old was linked to a hijacking syndicate smuggling stolen vehicles from South Africa to Mozambique.

To date, the task team which was deployed in February 2023 has arrested 276 suspects.

Up to 150 stolen or hijacked vehicles have been recovered and approximately 135 of those have been returned to their lawful owners.