Nine people arrested for being in possession of goods belonging to City of Joburg

Nine people have been arrested in Kliptown‚ Soweto‚ after being found in possession of R200‚000 worth of property allegedly stolen from the City of Johannesburg.

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba said the nine were arrested at the Bagdad flea market by the SAPS on Wednesday.

“This is in addition to the 7 suspects who were arrested in the beginning of the month for the same offence. Three of the suspects which were arrested today are undocumented foreign nationals from Mozambique. Home Affairs is expected to process these persons. The suspects will appear in the Kliptown Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.”

Mashaba said that the city’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS) indicated that people were continuing to strip off building material from the vacant Kliptown RDP houses in Soweto.

After stripping off the materials‚ including geysers‚ door frames‚ toilets‚ copper pipes‚ Pikitup bins and bathroom sets‚ the suspects then sold the building materials to the public in the market.

“A sting operation was set up this morning by GFIS‚ the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD)‚ Department of Home Affairs and the SAPS. The flea market was raided and building materials belonging to the City were confiscated by JMPD. I must admit that I am disappointed that after we arrested 7 people for stealing the building material‚ some are continuing to vandalise the RDP houses which are meant for people in that area‚” Mashaba said.

He added that not very far from the flea market is the Soweto Country Club where thieves stole 12 panels of clear view fence in December last year.

Early this month a man was arrested for the theft of the fence.

“I am happy that the thieves are behind bars and I have no doubt that the police with work around the clock to ensure that everyone who was involved is behind bars. I would like to commend GFIS‚ JMPD and the SAPS for the sterling job that they did.

“I would like to thank the residents of Kliptown and Eldorado Park who refused to be part of these criminal activities and pointed out the thieves‚” Mashaba said.