A POLICE constable and three other suspects were caught red-handed by security guards while loading railway tracks.
The tracks were being loaded onto a super-link truck believed to be owned by a Cape Town-based trucking company.
The 33-year-old constable and the three other suspects, aged between 38 and 43, were caught at the Mac-Mac plantation in Graskop on Tuesday, 7 February.
Bongani Shabangu (43), James Mathebula (42), Masonwabi Mabokwe (38) and Constable Dumisani Khumalo (33) appeared in the Graskop Magistrates Court facing charges of theft of railway tracks or alternatively, damage to essential infrastructure.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeswoman Monica Nyuswa said the case against the accused was remanded until 16 February for a formal bail application.
Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said that three of the suspects are from Mpumalanga and the driver is from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. “Security personnel alerted police who attended to the scene where the four suspects were arrested. The case docket was handed over to the Hawks for further handling.”
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Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela said she was disappointed by the alleged involvement of the member of police in criminal activities and applauded the security personnel for doing the exceptional job.
“An internal investigation will also be instituted against him,” she said.
