A Hawks-led joint operation conducted by the Tactical Response Team (TRT), Firearms, Liquor and Second Hand Goods (FLASH), Local Criminal Record Center (LCRC), Eskom, and Centlec has led to the recovery of suspected stolen property worth R9 million.
According to the Free State Hawks Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Zweli Mohobeleli the operation was conducted on Tuesday, 20 May 2025 at a plot on the outskirts of Bloemfontein. Serious Organised Crime Investigation detectives had approached the court for a search warrant after learning about a warehouse on the plot where the loot was being stored. Upon searching the premises, they found different voltage transformers, rolls of copper cable, and several loose items including electricity meter boxes. Eskom officials positively identified the property.
Free State Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, says work to bring those responsible for the theft to book has started. “We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the protection of essential infrastructure,” she said.