Two men arrested after falsely reporting carjackings

KAMHLUSHWA – Allegedly trying to cover up his criminal activities by reporting a carjacking landed a resident of Pienaar in handcuffs on Sunday afternoon.

Malvin Sanderson (21) reportedly went to KaMhlushwa Police Station and told police that he had been hijacked in Schoemansdal the previous night.

Police started looking for the vehicle and found it at Komatipoort SAPS.

Upon further investigation, they realised that Sanderson had allegedly lied to them. He had allegedly been involved with planning a robbery in Schoemansdal on Saturday.

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He and four accomplices allegedly went to a farm in the area to steal roofing tiles and other valuables. However, security officials spotted them while on patrol and started chasing them.

The five suspects abandoned their vehicle and fled the scene on foot.

Sanderson then decided to report a case of hijacking in an attempt to get the car back.

But security officials had already opened a case against the five suspects and handed the vehicle over to Komatipoort police.

Sanderson was arrested and appeared in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court in Tonga on Monday. He was remanded in custody, pending a formal bail application and is expected to appear in court on Monday.

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The provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen Mondli Zuma commended the investigating team for their swift response and thorough investigation and encouraged them to “work tirelessly in locating the remaining four suspects and making sure that they answer for their actions”.

Const Zithulele Mhlongo of KaMhlushwa SAPS attributed the arrests to the “strong investigating officials who assure that they do a proper investigation that leads to an arrest if a crime is committed”.

In Komatipoort, Nicolas Mkhabela (26) was arrested on a charge of perjury and defeating the ends of justice last Friday after police found that he had lied about being involved in a carjacking on December 12.

Mkhabela alleged that he was driving on the N4 near the weighbridge when a white Ford Focus with police lights pulled him over. A man approached him with a firearm and told him to get out of the vehicle. Another made him smell something in a small bottle.

He told police that he later woke up at a sugar cane farm near Kaapmuiden.

Mkhabela then said that he called his vehicle tracking company, who informed him that the vehicle had gone through the Lebombo Border Post into Mozambique.

Upon investigation, Lt Col Florida Khoza found that Mkhabela had actually sold his vehicle in Mozambique and arrested him.

He appeared in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was granted R800 bail. He is expected to appear in the same court again on March 1.