Jewellery robbers that wore government-issued overalls appear in court

Two men believed to be part of an armed gang that pulled off a heist at a jewellery store at Westville's Pavilion shopping mall last week while wearing government-issued workman's overalls, have appeared in court.

Nkululeko Mabuza, 28, and Daluxolo Mpanza, 25, were arrested in Johannesburg on Friday - a day after they, together with several other men, stormed a popular store at the mall, forced their way in and made off with an undisclosed amount of jewellery. 

The men had all been wearing orange overalls worn by workers employed by Durban Solid Waste, the eThekwini Municipality's refuse collection entity.

They were arrested with two other men during an intelligence-driven operation by the Hawks.

A source close to the investigation said that although four suspects were initially arrested, only Mabuza and Mpanza could be formally charged as they had been positively identified in CCTV camera footage of the incident.

Provincial Hawks spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo confirmed to TimesLIVE that Mabuza and Mpanza made a brief appearance in the Pinetown magistrate's court on Monday. 

Mhlongo said the operation was ongoing and more arrests were expected.

Mabuza and Mpanza will remain in custody and are expected back in court on September 11 to apply for bail.

Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela told TimesLIVE they would "conduct an internal investigation to ascertain whether there was any negligence on the part of some of our employees".