A 40-year-old security supervisor at Eskom’s Tutuka power station was apprehended by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Secunda on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
This arrest, executed under a warrant, increases the total number of individuals implicated in the case to eight. Among the previously arrested in October 2024 are the principal inspector of the Tutuka power station, Refilwe Motloung, along with her brother and brother-in-law.
On Monday, September 30, 2024, a Provincial Traffic Officer on duty at the Kinross weighbridge stopped a Toyota Hilux double cab bakkie loaded with copper cables. When directed to the weighbridge station, the driver fled.
The officer pursued the vehicle, which eventually overturned after the driver lost control. The Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team from Secunda was called to the scene.
They interviewed the three African men transporting the copper cables, who failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. They were arrested, and their statements led to the arrest of another 40-year-old man.
The multidisciplinary team, including the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime and Serious Corruption Investigation units in Secunda, Priority Crime Specialised Investigation in Mpumalanga, Provincial Traffic Officers, Secunda K9, Local Criminal Record Centre, Charl Cilliers Visible Policing, Evander SAPS, Crime Intelligence, Eskom Security, and Fidelity Security, followed leads to a farm where an Eskom truck had delivered a load of copper cables.
During their investigation, they found that the cables had been stripped and burnt. Additional copper cables were recovered during the search.
The team then moved to the Tutuka Eskom Power Station, where the cables were allegedly stolen. They seized the exhibits and the bakkie.
Further investigation implicated Refilwe Motloung, the principal inspector at Tutuka power station, who was subsequently arrested. Her arrest led to the apprehension of her brother and brother-in-law.
The eighth suspect was arrested on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and is scheduled to appear before the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
