Four men and one woman were arrested after being found in possession of suspected stolen Eskom cables on Tuesday, 29 January.
Constable Carmen Hendricks, Randfontein Police spokesperson, said they were arrested with suspected stolen property at a scrapyard in Second Street, Randfontein on Tuesday, 29 January at approximately 8.30am. The four men are foreign nationals, however, it has been confirmed that the woman was an employee at the scrapyard.
“It was alleged that the members of Firearms Liquor and Second Hand Goods Control (Flash) received information about suspected stolen cables in West Porges. They, together with several crime prevention members went to the scrapyard and caught the suspects red-handed busy cutting the cables,” she said.
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The cable was verified as coming from Eskom.
“It is not certain where the cable was stolen from. The suspects were arrested for possession of suspected stolen goods and contravention of the Second-Hand Goods Act 6 of 2009 and will appear before the Randfontein Magistrates’ Court soon,” Hendricks added.
Colonel Maria Matshidiso Filita, acting station commander, congratulated the members for being vigilant and for their hard work. She also expressed her gratitude towards the community that came forward with information.
Tshidiso Thlaripe, Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) spokesperson, said in a statement that the RWCLM wanted to applaud the police for arresting these criminals.
“We want to take this moment and applaud the Randfontein Police for arresting the foreign nationals for being in possession of illegal electricity cables. The cable recovered is estimated to be worth R6 million,” he said.
“Communities have recently been hit hard by electricity outages, resulting in many spending hours without access to electricity. Furthermore, the municipality had to spend more money on replacing the stolen cables.”
He also thanked the community members for providing the information that led to these arrests.
“This crackdown marks the beginning of an effort to raid all scrapyards that trade in these items. As the municipality, we want to urge more members of society to complement the work of the police by providing sufficient information that leads to the successful prosecution of the perpetrators,” he added.
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