Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Vusi Shongwe has applauded the Traffic Intervention Unit (TIU) members of the department and the police in KaNyamazane for the swift arrest of a motor vehicle theft suspect in Kanyamazane this morning.
The arrest follows an incident where a suspect was travelling on the Kamagugu road towards KaNyamazane failed to stop when instructed after overtaking on a barrier line. The TIU subsequently chased him and the suspect almost collided with a police vehicle that was travelling from KaNyamazane.
The police vehicle joined the members of the TIU in the chase and the suspect was cornered in KaNyamazane after colliding with a bus.
The traffic officers enquired about the absence of the registration plates of the vehicle he was driving and the suspect told them he had won it from a competition by a local car dealer. The police enquired with the dealer and it emerged that the vehicle was stolen. He was immediately arrested and charged among others with reckless and negligent driving and theft of a motor vehicle.
Shongwe applauded the two teams saying that the swiftness of their actions assisted with the recovery of a brand new vehicle within a short space of time. He said it was now up to the Criminal Justice System to ensure that the suspect faces the full might of the law in order to deter would be criminals from committing crime.
He said today’s arrest is a display that when the police and traffic officials work together, law breakers and criminals will not have any space to operate in.
“We must work together with the police to rid our communities of criminals so that they do not have any space to operate in,” the MEC said.
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