Durban — Two suspects were expected to appear before the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court on Monday after they were arrested for allegedly tampering with essential infrastructure during a multi-disciplinary operation in Umlazi.
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said that on Sunday, Umlazi police conducted a multi-disciplinary operation focusing on known hotspots. During the operation, police searched a scrapyard in D Section, Umlazi.
“During the search police officers discovered two money counting machines, truck batteries, 74kg copper cables, electronic scales, 461kg of lead cable insulators, 364kg of mixed copper pipes with burnt stripped copper cables and 129kg of aluminium cables,” Ngcobo said.
“When questioned by police, the owner of the premises failed to provide police with a definitive explanation as to where she obtained the items from.”
Ngcobo said that a 29-year-old woman was arrested for tampering with essential infrastructure, possession of the suspected stolen property and receiving of suspected stolen property.
“A second suspect, 36, was arrested at the premises for obstruction of justice. The second suspect interfered with the police when they were performing their duties at the premises,” Ngcobo said.
She said both suspects were detained at Umlazi SAPS and were appearing before the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Meanwhile, eight accused who are charged with cable theft and damage to key infrastructure relating to cable and copper estimated at R3 million belonging to Transnet, the eThekwini Municipality and Telkom are expected to apply for bail this week in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.
The accused, including two women, made their first appearance in court on Thursday where one of the women stood in the dock alongside her co-accused with a baby strapped to her chest.
This comes after the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition gazetted a proposed draft policy in August to ban the export of waste, scrap and semi-finished metal products for six months in a bid to crack down on metal theft syndicates.
Daily News