Men found stealing railway tracks nabbed in sting operation

Two men found stealing railway tracks in Mpumalanga are expected to appear before the Amersfort Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of tampering and damaging essential infrastructure.

One of the suspects has a similar pending case in Morgezon for a railway track theft incident that occurred in April and is currently scheduled to be heard on 15 November.

The duo were arrested during the multidisciplinary sting operation conducted by the Secunda-based SA Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) or Hawks, Daggakraal Vispol and Transnet Investigators on Friday.

Hawks spokesperson in the province Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said the team followed information about individuals busy removing railway tracks at Daggakraal.

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“On arrival the team caught the duo red handed on the act. Upon questioning, the suspects had no better explanation. They were immediately arrested and police confiscated the removed railway tracks as exhibits for further investigation.

“During preliminary investigation it was established that one of the suspects is a repeated offender with another case on the court roll,” she said.

Costly damage

She said the duo were charged with tampering and damaging of essential infrastructure and detained, pending their first court appearance on Monday.  

Vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure has reached crisis levels, with state entities Eskom, Prasa, Telkom and Transnet collectively spending R10 billion security per annum.

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According to BBC, a report by the Brenthurst Foundation think-tank revealed that two-thirds of the overhead cables that covered more than 3 000km of track had been stolen, and would cost about R500 000 rand per kilometre to restore.

Head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga Major General Zodwa Mokoena applauded the multidisciplinary approach conduct by the team.

She further cautioned the public to refrain from damaging essential infrastructure which affect the economy of the country, and appreciated the loyal citizens who continually report the illegal activities to the police.

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