Tension and the threat of open violence is constant in the northern KwaZulu-Natal towns and villages bordering Mozambique following the brazen activities of cross-border crime syndicates. In recent weeks, communities have been protesting in frustration and some have been taking the law into their own hands - with opportunistic criminal elements creeping in, evidenced by the torching of a Mozambican truck and a bus late in January, and further incidents in February.

The area is seen as a gangster's paradise, where everything from vehicles and drugs - cocaine, heroin, meth - to counterfeit cigarettes and other goods are smuggled through the porous fence separating South Africa and Mozambique.

For years South African and Mozambican authorities have been aware of the cross-border syndicate rings smuggling vehicles and other goods to the other side, but little has been done to curb it.

Now angry communities are taking the law into their own hands, with devastating consequences for relations between the two countries and citizens.

Late in January, angry communities in Mbazwana torched a Mozambican truck on the R22 highway between Hluhluwe and Mbazwana. A few minutes later they stopped...