MBOMBELA – Five male suspects, aged 27 to 36, will appear in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court today in connection with a recent spate of robberies committed in and around the Tonga Cluster area.

The five were arrested at KaMhlushwa on Friday, October 5, during a joint operation by several law-enforcement agencies.

The arrests followed shortly after a foreign national had been attacked and robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and airtime vouchers in Schoemansdal earlier. The victim sustained several gunshots in the attack and had to be rushed to hospital for medical attention. Police responded swiftly by launching a massive manhunt which led to the arrest of the suspects at their hideout in KaMhlushwa. During the arrest police confiscated several items, comprising three firearms with serial numbers filed off, live ammunition, an undisclosed amount of cash, cellphones, airtime vouchers and other dangerous weapons.

Police believe that these suspects might also have been responsible for several house- and business robberies committed in the Nkomazi area recently.  Mzinti near Tonga has suffered the brunt, with four house robberies happening within hours on Monday, October 1.

Submitted by: Col Mtsholi Bhembe
Editor: Anchen Coetzee
Subeditor: Lynette Brink