LIMPOPO police found electricity copper cables hidden under the bed of a foreign national inside his spaza shop in Ga-Sekgopo Village outside Modjadjiskloof on Monday, 13 November.
The Mopani District Municipality initiated the ongoing raid on spaza shops to address food safety compliance, focusing on spaza shops and general dealers.
The gatvol villagers said they never thought that aboMyfriend owning spaza shops are also involved in cable theft.
They said all aboMyfriend who are found copper cables and conducting criminal activities must vacate their village as they are destroying their essential infrastructure.
"What makes it even worse is that when a cable is stolen, Eskom takes ages to come and replace them, and we are left in the dark for weeks," said Julius Mokwena (31).
Residents said they wanted to know who they work with.
"It's clear that he doesn't work alone, so he must reveal all his accomplices so that they, too, face the consequences. He must tell us where he got them and who he is supplying them to," the villager said.
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Modjadjiskloof cop shop’s Captain Mogale Raholane said they made a huge success.
"He was placed under arrest for possession of suspected stolen property because every week, we don't go by without receiving a complaint of cable theft. Our plea to the justice system is that an example be made through prosecution to serve as deterrence to other offenders," he said.
The suspect appeared briefly before the Modjadjiskloof Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 15 November, but was released through a release warrant by the court.
During the operation, three businesses in the village were issued fines for operating without licenses.
Mopani District Municipality's MMC for community safety, Dikeledi Mmetle, said they always complain about load shedding while unaware that it's a man-made thing.
"The suspect will have to tell us about his buyer and supplier. We will follow the case until the end," she said.
