800 metres of railway track stolen
Five men appeared briefly in court in connection with millions of rands worth of railway tracks they allegedly stole.
Four of the men were arrested following a shootout with police in November last year.
Another man was wounded in the shootout.
Also read: Railway track thieves ambushed by police
Shortly before the shootout on the corner of Vloed and Weeber Street, where police ambushed the suspects, they stripped railway tracks worth millions of rands from a railway line between Middelburg and Stoffberg.
The stolen tracks were found inside a Mohandule Projects truck.
Manuel Mahlathini (32), Elias Denver (34) and Sbonginkosi Thwala (49) were all charged with tampering with essential infrastructure and attempted murder.
Lucky Mathe (30) and Carlitos Nyevemba (38) were indicted on charges of possession of suspected stolen property.
The five remain in custody and will appear in court later.
Also read: Gesteelde spoorstawe dalk na Sjina of Indië uitgevoer
Four other suspects escaped. None of them have been successfully traced by the police.
• Six months prior to the arrests, 800 metres of railway track, amounting to R1,6 million, were stolen on a disused line in Stoffberg.
A blowtorch was used and the tracks were measured in exactly two-metre sections before being hauled away by a truck.
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