Cops in bid to find copper cables’ owner

“NYAOPE boys” swarmed over a truck full of copper cables, which had run out of diesel on Kgosi Mampuru Street in the Pretoria CBD yesterday, and helped themselves to its load while the driver waited for assistance.

But the driver’s misery did not end there; Tshwane Metro Police Department officers impounded the truck on suspicion that the cables belonged to the municipality. The heavy duty vehicle will only be released once ownership of its load has been confirmed.

“I got stuck here and called the company to let them know. But within minutes I looked at the rear view mirror I saw six ‘nyaope boys’ helping themselves to the cables; I panicked,” said the driver, who refused to give his name, saying he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“As I got out of the truck to chase them away, one of them took my wallet and ran away with it to the bushes. They all disappeared into the bushes.”

The truck belongs to Alrode Alberton and had been leased to Rumour, a scrapyard operator that collects copper cables.

The driver said he was passing through Pretoria on his way to Johannesburg when the unfortunate incidents happened.

The panicked driver and theft on the side of the road caught the attention of motorists and pedestrians, who called the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department.

But when the officers arrived there – to the relief of the driver – they demanded documentation for the transportation of the cables. He did not have them.

Metro police spokesperson

The thieves were nowhere to be seen, and the driver said his wallet had been stolen

Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said they had to find out who the cables belonged to before releasing the truck.

He said they suspected the cables were stolen and belonged to the City.

“This truck was stuck here and members of the public alerted us to a robbery of copper cables and that was when we rushed here to find the truck driver stranded. The thieves were nowhere to be seen, and the driver said his wallet had been stolen as well.

“So as authorities we wanted to find out where the cable were obtained; we wanted papers, but the driver did not have them. We suspect that there is a possibility that the cables may be of the City of Tshwane,” he said.

“Cable theft is one of the mayor’s priority, hence we established a unit that deals specifically with cable theft. The unit is doing very well.

“We will make sure that we deploy officers to all the hot spots,” Mahamba said.

Mahamba said they had to impound the truck pending an investigation into the ownership of the cables.

“We are going to identify who owns these copper cables, and we will take it from there,” he added.