K9 unit officers acting on a tip-off stopped a truck transporting stolen copper and other metals valued at close to R200 000.
The truck was nabbed as it left Transnet premises.
When police and Transnet officials opened the container on the truck they found stolen copper cables along with other metals.
Chief Transnet Investigator Mr T Govender identified the stolen cables as belonging to Transnet and having been taken without permission from the Regional Transnet Material Depot.
Workers who had been employed by the suspect realised they were not doing legitimate salvage work when they were told to destroy fully functional transformers and copper wiring.
According to Mr Govender at least two scrap dealers had bought stolen copper from the suspect.
Some of it had already been transported to Durban.
Police and Transnet officials would be travelling to Durban to recover the stolen copper.
Both the police and Transnet applauded the honesty and integrity of the workers concerned for reporting the thefts to them.
One 49-year-old suspect was arrested for theft and appeared in court on Wednesday.
