On the morning of Monday, September 12, at about 2am Amangwe police were busy with a special operation wherein they were following up on information of a stolen vehicle at Mqendandaba area. This led to them finding a red bakkie with a white canopy and Free State registration number plates parked at a homestead.

A man was seated in the driver’s seat. Upon searching the back of the vehicle, police found 11 goats inside. The driver could not prove ownership. The 36-year-old was then promptly arrested for possession of suspected stolen stock.

He was later also charged for the possession of two stolen vehicles, after the vehicle he was found inside proved to have been stolen in Harrismith earlier this month. A second vehicle, a brown Toyota Corolla, was found parked in the same yard and it was stolen in Howick in August 2016.

The vehicles and goats were seized as evidence. The police officers proceeded to the Nyezane location where they discovered dagga at a homestead. The dagga weighed around 56.6 kg in total. A 30-year-old man was arrested for possession of the dagga. The dagga has an estimated street value of around R80 000.

The suspects appeared in the Estcourt Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, September 13.