Mpumalanga man arrested for second 'torching' of police bakkie in a year

Mbombela (Nelspruit) police arrested a man who allegedly torched a police bakkie in Thulamahashe on Saturday.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Lt-Col Jabu Ndubane said the double-cab bakkie was parked outside the Mhala police station at about 3.30pm.

“The driver and his crew came from a routine patrol at Thulamahashe shopping complex, parked the motor vehicle outside the station gate, closed the windows, locked the doors and entered the station,” he said.

A short while later they heard someone shouting the bakkie was on fire, he said. 

“As they came out, the said man [suspect] was running from the torched motor vehicle. The members then gave chase and caught him a few metres from the scene.”

Ndubane said a 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with malicious damage to state property.

Preliminary investigation revealed he is a repeat offender as he committed a similar offence at the Mhala police station in December 2023.

Acting provincial police commissioner Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi condemned the incident.

“This is very disturbing. People will be complaining that they do not get adequate service or there are no resources to serve them because of irresponsible actions like these. Let us have a sense of ownership of these resources that the state has allocated for us,” he said.

TimesLIVE