The Anti-Hijacking Task Team received intelligence-driven information about a hijacked truck carrying stolen power transformers.
Picture: Mpumalanga Saps.
Intelligence‑driven policing paid off in Mpumalanga when the Ehlanzeni Anti‑Hijacking Task Team and Ngodwana Saps officers intercepted a hijacked truck, arresting a 34‑year‑old Mozambican national and recovering stolen power transformers worth more than R6 million.
The Ehlanzeni Anti-Hijacking Task Team handcuffed the Mozambican national on Tuesday, at about 1pm.
Intelligence
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane said the Anti-Hijacking Task Team received intelligence-driven information about a hijacked truck carrying stolen power transformers, travelling on the Schoemanskloof Road, towards Nelspruit.
Ndubane said officers operationalised the information, and the truck was spotted and tactically intercepted.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the truck was reportedly stolen at Devon in Gauteng. Further search led to the discovery of the reportedly stolen power transformers,” Ndubane said.
“It was during this period that the suspect was placed under arrest and then charged for possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle as well as for possession of suspected stolen property.”
Home affairs
Ndubane added that police are working collaboratively with officials from the Department of Home Affairs to ascertain the status of the arrested suspect.
The suspect is expected to appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court soon.
Warning
Ndubane said the Provincial Commissioner of the Saps in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Apaphia Modise, thanked the Ehlanzeni Anti-Hijacking Task Team and members from Ngodwana SAPS for the swift action.
Modise warned that the police, together with other law enforcement agencies, will continue to “prevent and combat criminal activities in the province.”
Murder suspect arrested
Meanwhile, communities and media helped police close in on an alleged fugitive murder suspect within hours – a united front that Acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpane says proves the power of collective vigilance.
After Saps released the image of 27‑year‑old Simiso Silomo Phakathi, wanted in connection with the murder of his girlfriend in Soweto, residents of Joubertina in Klerksdorp swiftly tipped off police, leading to his arrest on Wednesday, 19 August 2026.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said Dimpane hailed the rapid response as a striking example of how communities and the media can turn appeals into action, ensuring perpetrators of gender‑based violence are brought to justice.
