Former hospital employee arrested for theft of dialysis machine

A 27-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing a dialysis machine from a local hospital valued over R250,000.

According to Captain Nqobile Gwala, it is alleged that on 24 August, at midnight, the suspect proceeded to a hospital where he removed a machine without permission.

He thereafter pawned the machine for monetary gain.

After being on the run from police for a month, police finally arrested the suspect in the Shallcross area in Chatsworth.

Further investigations led police to a property in the Umhlatuzana Township area where police recovered the dialysis machine which is valued over R250,000, said Gwala.

Police seized the machine, which will be returned to the hospital in due course.

The suspect appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of theft.

In a separate incident, six suspects were arrested for alleged business robbery in the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to Colonel Priscilla Naidu, it is alleged that at about 01:20am, five armed men broke into a business premises in Bell Street in Kruisrivier in Kariega and held the owner and his employee at gunpoint and with knives. The complainant also sleeps on the premises. 

Cash, three TV sets, two cellphones, a laptop and other personal belongings of both men were taken. They were tied up with telephone and computer cords.

“At about 04:30am, a SAPS Uitenhage CPU member spotted a suspicious motor vehicle (BMW 116i) at a garage in Caledon Street. The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle that was spotted near businesses earlier in the week,” said Naidu.

“The vehicle was followed and with the assistance of SAPS Despatch, the vehicle was stopped on the R75. It was searched and belongings of the complainant and the witness were found. Their personal belongings, the laptop, cellphones and some of the cash were recovered.  The BMW was impounded for further investigation.”

The six suspects aged between 36 and 43 years old were detained on a charge of business robbery. They appeared in Kariega Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.