Cape Town – Suspected car thieves who were using donkeys to pull a stolen bakkie across the Limpopo River between South Africa and Zimbabwe deserted their loot when they were spotted in the middle of the river, police said on Saturday
During aerial surveillance on Friday, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba spotted the roof of the double cab bakkie in the middle of the Limpopo River, Saps spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe told News24.
“The chopper was instructed to swoop down and indeed, there was a vehicle on the South African side of the river, almost in the Zimbabwean section. The three suspects realised that they had been spotted and swam to Zimbabwe, where they disappeared into the bushes,” he said.
The donkeys, which were left behind, were unharmed and wandered off.
It took police four hours to retrieve the vehicle from the river.
The bakkie is confirmed to have been stolen in Durban, Ngoepe said.
