Two men, aged 42 and 37, appeared at the Carolina Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 7 January, facing a charge of being in possession of a suspected stolen truck.
Their appearance follows after they were found in possession of the truck in question by members of the police at Badplaas, near Carolina, after a lookout was sent by members from Delmas.
Information at the police’s disposal, suggested that in the early hours of Sunday morning, 6 January, five unknown men, some reportedly armed with firearms, pounced on a farm at Delmas.
They reportedly broke into some of the farm buildings, took the keys of four Mercedes-Benz trucks as well as a John Deere tractor and in the process kidnapped three farm employees and loaded them into the one truck that they stole.
They drove with the employees until they decided to drop them at an unknown place.
The tractor and the other three suspects are still being sought.
The arrested suspects will, after appearing for the possession charge, also be expected to appear at Delmas soon, for house robbery, housebreaking and theft, theft of a truck and a tractor, as well as three counts of kidnapping.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Mpumalanga, Lt/Gen Mondli Zuma, stressed that the implementation of the 72 Hour Activation Plan does yield positive results as it can be seen with the almost immediate capture of the two suspects.
“The most productive method however is the cooperation of the community with the police, because that will always guarantee that dangerous criminals are removed from society,” said Lt Gen Zuma.
An appeal is made to anyone who may know the whereabouts of the other three suspects as well as the tractor or be able to assist police in their investigation, to contact Capt Samson Mokomene at 072 421 9274 or the SAPS Crime Stop number, 08600 10 111.
