Police at the Soshanguve police station, north-east of Pretoria, were unpleasantly surprised on Friday afternoon when a scrap-metal dealer brought a live mortar round into the station.
”He just walked in with the bomb, saying he was suspicious when he found it on a heap of scrap metal that he recently purchased,” said Captain Solly Marindi.
Police explosive experts were summoned and they determined that the British-made mortar shell was still live and took it away for disposal.
The dealer said he found the bomb among heaps of scrap metal on Friday.
”We were very lucky no one was injured,” Marindi said.
Marindi urged any members of the public who find bomb-like objects to rather leave them where they are found and contact the police. — Sapa