A 37-year-old male suspect facing charges of business robbery and assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm was remanded in custody after a brief appearance in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on March 31.
It is alleged that the suspect together with two accomplices, who are still at large, drove from Mamelodi in Pretoria in their bakkie to a construction site in Northlands on March 1 with the intention of stealing a stamper machine.
Douglasdale Police Station spokesperson Captain Mpho Tshetlhane said the suspects arrived at the construction site and loaded the stamper machine onto their vehicle.
Tshetlhane said one of the workers confronted the three men and asked them why they were loading their equipment.
“The suspects allegedly told the worker that their ‘boss’ had sent them to collect the machine. A fight ensued after the 22-year-old [worker] asked them to phone the person who sent them. The suspect then took out a knife and stabbed the victim in his back before they fled the scene on foot, leaving their vehicle behind.”
She said investigations led Douglasdale police to Mamelodi Police Station where the suspect had opened a case of hijacking to try and cover his tracks after fleeing the site without the bakkie.
Tshetlhane urged members of the community not to open false crime cases as this put unnecessary pressure on police’s manpower and resources.
She added that those who lied under oath would be charged with perjury.
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