The two men were nabbed last night at a school in Duvha Park, eMalahleni.
NUM leader and former ANC branch secretary Bridge Ntobeng has been arrested for allegedly stealing fibre optic cables valued at R100 000.
Ntobeng and another co-accused were spotted by a CPF member while loading the loot outside the Duvha Park primary school, in Duvha Park south of eMalahleni Thursday 21 October 2021.
“The incident happened at around 9pm last night,” Witbank SAPS spokesman Capt Eddie Hall said on Friday.
Ntobeng, who is a former ANC secretary in eMalahleni mayor Linah Malatjie’s branch and the branch leader of the NUM at Eskom’s Duvha power station, is no stranger to having brushes with the law.
In late 2019 Ntobeng was arrested after a foiled ATM bombing in Tasbet Park ended up in a dramatic shootout with police that left one suspect dead.
SEE ALSO: Cops search for Mswati’s attackers
“A CPF member was patrolling the area when he noticed a bakkie with a trailer parked at the school loading some items.
“Upon enquiry the suspects said they were given the cable by the principal, but the principal denied any knowledge of such and the two suspects were then taken into custody,” Hall said.
Ntobeng and co-accused Fortune Matyeka appeared briefly in the eMalahleni Magistrates Court on Friday morning on a charge of general theft and were released on warning.
The case was postponed for further investigation and the duo will appear in court again next Friday 29 October 2021.
(edited by MGB)
Send tip-offs to editor@013.co.za
