Six suspected copper cables thieves appear in Gqeberha court

Six suspects, arrested on charges of damage to essential infrastructure and possession of stolen copper cables valued at R600,000, have appeared in court.

Simon Tembe, 47, Sam Mhlanga, 46, Raymond Jambula, 25, Sam Nkabinde, 45, John Aldildi, 25, and Kalmani Musa, 26, were arrested on Friday last week by the Gqeberha Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation team, working with the local criminal record centre, Combined Private Investigations and the Kinkelbos police.

The joint team had received information about a vehicle travelling towards Gqeberha that was suspected to have been loaded with copper cables.

The police followed up on the tip-off and a white Chevrolet utility bakkie was spotted near Colchester, stopped and searched.

“Upon searching the vehicle, the team recovered about 300kg of Telkom copper cables with an estimated street value of R600,000.

“That led to the arrest of the six suspects in the vehicle,” Hawks spokesperson WO Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said.

The copper cables and bakkie, which is believed to have been used in the commission of the offence, were seized.

The suspects appeared in the Motherwell magistrate’s court this week and will remain in custody pending their formal bail applications on Monday.

Eastern Cape Hawks head Maj Gen Obed Ngwenya applauded the efforts of the joint team in tracing and arresting the suspects.

HeraldLIVE