MALALANE – On Monday morning gardener August Mashaba was found guilty on two charges of theft.
Mashaba, who was in court for the hearing of his sentencing on the case of stolen property, was rearrested on new charges of theft out of motor vehicles.
On December 29, 2013, he was apprehended in Fish Eagle Bend when he was found with a stolen kitchen unit and a stove. Mashaba pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against him, while those brought against his co-accused Mr Clayis Mashabane were dropped.
On the first charge of possession of stolen goods, the court found Mashaba guilty as he failed to provided a valid reason to why the property was in his possession. He was given a five years’ suspended sentence and an R3 000 fine.
The court also found Mashaba guilty on the second charges of theft out of vehicle brought against him; he was fined R1 000, which he paid on the same day.
Spokesman for the Malalane Police Station Mr Bheki Nkosi has encouraged houmeowners intending on leaving a house vacant for more than a day to report it to the station.
He said, “We will continue to monitor vacant premises during the period of which they are unoccupied, because we are aware that such times are viewed as opportunities for crime by perpetrators. However, we can only perform these patrols if we are informed. Therefore we encourage homeowners planning to be away for longer than a day to report it to the vacant premises register. This is available at the station. We will then ensure that patrol vans monitor the premises every hour.”
Nkosi added that Mashaba’s arrest came about as a result of such patrolling as people had listed the house on the register at the time the crime was committed.
