A 31-year-old man who is part of an armed robbery gang that is believed to be targeting cross-border travellers in South Africa has been jailed for an effective 10 years by a Beitbridge regional court.

Nomore Shava was recently arrested after robbing a Beitbridge woman of a Toyota Runx vehicle, two cellphones and R6000 while in the company of two others who are still at large.

The woman had just arrived in Musina, South Africa, around 3am when Shava and crew pounced on her while armed with a gun.

Although Shava denied the charge of armed robbery, Beitbridge regional magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa convicted him last Friday on the strength of the State's evidence.

Prosecuting, Mr Willbrought Muleya said on November 5, a woman drove to Musina to visit a relative.

As she disembarked from her car, Shava and his two associates emerged and pointed a black pistol at her.

They then took two cell phones, car keys and R6000 and drove away. The stolen items were all worth R66000.

The matter was reported to the police in Musina and the complainant returned to Beitbridge where she did a SIM swap and managed to trace her phone to a local dealer in Dulivhadzimu.

She teamed up with cellphone dealers and located her phones. Shava had handed them over to a cellphone dealer to sell them on his behalf.

The court heard that Shava was expected to collect his money later that day from the cellphone dealer.

An ambush was then laid by the police. Shava was arrested when he came to collect his money.