According to information, on 21 August 2023, a security guard who is a supervisor at the mine got suspicious after calling his colleagues to get a situation report but without any response.

He then decided to go and check on them, surprisingly he was reportedly welcomed by two male suspects, pointing a firearm at him.

The suspects are said to have taken him to the guards’ room where he joined his three colleagues, one of them being a generator operator.

It is further reported that the suspects instructed the supervisor to give false report to the other colleagues that everything was in order.

As if that was not enough, the suspects further forced the generator operator to drain litres of diesel from the generator.

They then loaded the generator into a bakkie (Toyota Hilux) which belonged to the supervisor and fled scene with the stolen items.

Police were eventually alerted about the incident and upon arrival at the scene, a case of business robbery was registered at Middelburg Police Station.

On Thursday, 24 August 2023, police got a tip-off on the whereabouts of the suspects to the said robbery drama.

Members responded to the information which turned positive. It was during this period when the men and women in Blue made a follow-up that they cornered the trio.

The three suspects, Joshua Mongwe (27), Lawrence Diyuoto (27), and Doctor Hudebe (37) had appeared in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court today, Friday 25 August 2023.

The matter was postponed to 01 September 2023 for a formal bail application meanwhile they all remained in custody. The investigation into this matter still continues.

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcomed the arrest of the three and the General appreciated members of the community for their assistance with valuable information provided.