Police crack down on alleged housebreaking syndicate.
The police in Bela-Bela believe they had made a major breakthrough after the arrest of three “most wanted”
alleged serial housebreaking and theft suspects, linked to 17 crimes.
Bela-Bela SAPS Detectives Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Phetla, said on Monday 25 June, that two other suspects were arrested, as a direct follow-up to the cornering and arrest of Steve
Maluleka (20), following a botched residential housebreaking in a suburban area on Wednesday 20 June.
Phetla said Maluleka faced 10 charges of housebreaking and theft, and did not rule out the possibility of further charges being added against him and his two accomplices, Kobus Pholoba (27),
and Shimane Monare (19).
Investigators described in chilling detail how the threesome allegedly targeted households and businesses, hiding their loot in unoccupied RDP houses.
Pholoba was arrested on Friday 22 June and Monare on Sunday 24 June.
Investigating officer, Detective-Sergeant Frans Sekgobela, said the police first gave chase to Monare, who was found hiding under a bed in a private household.
When the police drove Monare away towards the police station in Bela-Bela, they stumbled into Pholoba leasurely walking the sidewalks.
He was arrested on the spot.
Maluleka was cornered during a botched housebreaking in Bela-Bela on Wednesday 20 June, by members of the Community Policing Forum (CPF), Galven Security and the police.
Monare and Pholoba appeared before the Bela-Bela Magistrate’s Court on Monday 25 June, and were expected in court again on Monday 2 July.
Maluleka’s formal bail application is scheduled for the same court on Monday 23 July.
— The BEAT
