Detectives unit praised for swift arrest

The local detectives unit has been praised by a farmer after they moved swiftly to arrest a man suspected of burglary and recovered all the stolen items.

Vusi Simon Mbatha (30) was arrested on Saturday, March 22 at Emjindini Trust after he allegedly broke into Allen van Rensburg’s residence on February 25.

According to Van Rensburg, who resides at Plot 7 at Mt Olive, which is closer to Kaapsehoop, he was surprised on February 25 when he returned from work early from work to find one of his house’s windows shattered.

“It was around 12:00 when I was forced by heavy thunderstorm to returnto my plot because I couldn’t work on my son’s farm. I found a shattered window and realized I had been burgled,” said Van Rensburg.

He said he called the local detectives and a case of housebreaking was opened. Some of his employees tipped off him that they suspected Mbatha of the crime as they had seen him earlier roaming around his plot.

Mbatha use to work for Van Rensburg from 2006 to 2007. Det Stanford Gumede was assigned to investigate the case.

Items stolen, valued in the region of R20 000, included a laptop, portable radio, DVD player and CDs. All items are estimated to be in the region of R20 000.

Jokingly, Van Rensburg said Mbatha might still have had a hangover the next day after stealing and drinking three of his imported wines.

The suspect was finally arrested at Emjindini Trust on March 22 after detectives having been following him for almost a month.

Upon his arrest, he went showed detectives where he had sold the items. All the items were recovered at Kamagovolo Farm, where it was sold for a mere R500 to an unsuspecting individual.

According to Gumede, Mbatha lied to buyer by saying the items were a gift by his employer. The buyer has since became a state witness.

Van Rensburg appreciated the work done by the detectives. “You have got to give credit where it is due because now detectives have arrested the suspect and recovered my property. I would like to congratulate them. My thanks go out to everyone who had been involved. I also hope the courts will send a strong message to farm criminals,” said Van Rensburg.

Mbatha appeared in the Barberton Magistrate’s Court last Monday where he was denied bail and remanded in custody. He reappeared again in the same court on Thursday and Friday and bail was denied on both occasions.

According to Gumede it was discovered that the suspect also have another pending case of house robbery he committed at KaBokweni against him. Mbatha is currently being detained at the Barberton SAPS holding cells pending his next court appearance on April 11.