BREAKING: Three suspects arrested for Chief Justice burglary

Police have arrested three suspects in connection with the burglary at the office of the Chief Justice at the weekend‚ a source said on Wednesday.

The suspects are due to appear in the Mamelodi Magistrate's Court this morning.

Thieves made off with 15 computers containing sensitive information on Constitutional Court judges and officials after breaking into Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s offices in Midrand‚ Johannesburg‚ in the early hours of Saturday.

• MPs being burgled is nothing new. Here are 10 incidents since 2000Over the years several cabinet ministers and top officials also made the news when they fell victim to crime. Here are just ten examples: 

Acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane is expected to brief the media at 9am on the burglary.

The burglary drew condemnation from politicians‚ including the DA and ANC‚ which said it raised fears that the break-in was an attack on the judiciary.

The incident followed a day after a highly contentious ruling in which the Constitutional Court ordered the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to extend a contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to distribute social grants.

• Phahlane dismisses conspiracy theories about burglary at Chief Justice’s officeActing National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane on Monday brushed aside conspiracy theories about the theft of computers containing sensitive personal information from the office of the Chief Justice. 

The ruling followed weeks of uncertainty about the future of the grants programme. CPS's contract‚ which had previously been ruled invalid by the Constitutional Court‚ was due to expire at the end of this month.

Sassa and the Department of Social Development had failed to come up with a replacement for CPS‚ resulting in fears that grants would not be delivered to recipients in April.

Sassa's handling of the matter drew sharp criticism and sparked calls for Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini to resign.