In a bid to reduce the growing levels of theft of municipal property, scrap yard owners have been asked not to buy stolen metal goods.
“If scrap yard owners did not buy these stolen metal goods it would minimise the amount of [City of Joburg] property that is stolen,” metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said.
This comes after a scrap yard dealer in Wynburg was arrested by metro police after he was found in possession of a manhole cover and a streetlight pole.
Minnaar said the manhole cover and streetlight pole belonged to the City of Joburg.
“The man will appear in court for possession of stolen property and for bribery,” he said.
According to Minnaar, the man tried to give officers a R1 000 bribe but the officers refused.
He said the arrest was made during a blitz after officers did an investigation.
He added there were several incidents of scrap yard dealers being found in possession of municipal property.
“Recently two dealers were arrested for being in possession of manhole covers… one was found with as many as 42 manhole covers at his scrap yard and the other had manhole covers and copper cable,” he said.
“The message to scrap yard dealers is that they must be careful. No longer will they be free to deal in stolen property.”
