The Bloemfontein police have recovered high voltage transmission copper cables estimated to the value of R4 million after arresting two suspected members of a copper cable syndicate. The pair, aged 33 and 34 years, are expected to make their first appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court today – 10 November.
Sgt Mahlomola Kareli, spokesperson for the Free State police, said members of the police’s crime intelligence unit nabbed the suspects in the morning on Wednesday, 8 November, at about 06:00. They were apparently caught red-handed, busy stripping cable wires at a quarry located close to a local shopping centre in Heidedal, Bloemfontein.
He said the preliminary findings revealed the pair are undocumented.
“They were in possession of possibly fake identity documents. They were arrested for contravention of the Immigration Act and tampering with valuable and critical infrastructure,” said Kareli. He said the arrest was a result of a collaboration with the Heidedal neighbourhood watch, Heidedal police, and Centlec investigators.
The pair’s arrest came after the tragic death of an unidentified, suspected member of a copper cable syndicate. The deceased was fatally electrocuted, apparently trying to cut cables from a high voltage power line in the Bloemfontein suburb, Bayswater. His badly burnt body was found stuck high among the overhanging power lines.
Lt. Col Thabo Covane, spokesperson for the police in Mangaung, said community members who attended to the scene found the body in the morning at about 05:50. The body was brought down to the ground by personnel of the Mangaung Metro Fire Brigade and Centlec.
