Alleged group mastermind Artilo Percy Billa (45), Nyedisani Ratsatsi (38), Lucas Nakana (44), Ronnie Makwala (24) all from Relela Village and Mohale Elias Monyela (28) from Morutji Village appeared on charges of house- breaking, house robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
They were all remanded in police custody and their case postponed to next Monday for formal bail application. Police investigations are on going.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said during the arrests of the suspects a large quantity of firearms and ammunition were seized in the Bolobedu South area.
Ngoepe said the recovered firearms included 14 rifles, two pistols, and 318 round of various calibre ammunition.
“These firearms were found buried in the yard of one of the suspects’ homes. Preliminary investigations point to the possibility that these suspects might be connected to a series of farm attacks in the area,” said Ngoepe.
Ngoepe said the five suspects were arrested during an operation comprising of members of the provincial tracking team and the Tzaneen policing cluster trio task team, conducted following the spate of recent farm attacks in and around the Tzaneen cluster.
Ngoepe added that the breakthrough came when police received a tip-off and pounced on the suspects last Thursday.
Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nneke Ledwaba commended the police officers for their determination during the operation. “The discovery of these firearms and the arrests that were made would go a long way in reducing levels of crime, especially violent crimes,” said Ledwaba.
