Two in their 20s nabbed for east copper theft
“The street value of the copper tubes found in their possession is estimated at plus minus R50 000.”
Two men in their 20s were arrested for suspected theft of essential infrastructure east of Pretoria on Monday.
The suspects, aged 22 and 24, were caught by Transnet security guards at Pienaarspoort train station in possession of Transnet copper cables, said Boschkop police spokesperson Sergeant Yeroboam Mbatsane.
Mbatsane said the suspect were charged with tempering with essential infrastructure and they are expected to appear in court soon.
“The street value of the copper tubes found in their possession is estimated at plus minus R50 000.
“Investigations are underway to establish where the copper was to be sold, and the police are looking for five suspects who managed to escape from the scene of crime.”
Boschkop station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Witbooi applauded the security officers for doing a good job by bringing the suspects to book.
He emphasised that the relationship between the police and private security was very important in addressing crime in the community.
Metrorail announced on Tuesday that Pienaarspoort trains were back in service following an interruption last week.
Since Monday, April 24 the trains had not operated in the east of Pretoria due to an Eskom blown transformer.
Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said that Eskom had reported a component failure at the weekend which resulted in no power supply to Metrorail’s substations.
Mofokeng said that 25 000 commuters on the Pienaarspoort to Pretoria and Mamelodi Gardens to Pretoria routes were affected a day.
“Metrorail Gauteng has not been able to render train services for the past few days and this equates to 28 train trips cancelled daily,” said Mofokeng.
“As a company we move approximately 25 000 commuters daily on the Pienaarspoort line, this number excludes children who depend on the trains to get to school.”
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