Man arrested for theft of computers

A male suspect was arrested in connection with the theft of two computers at the offices the of Musina Municipality's finance section. The computers were later recovered at a house where the suspect stays, about 500 metrs away from the municipal building.

Acting Municipal Manager Pedron Nndwa said the suspect tampered with the alarm system of the municipality and allegedly broke the window to gain access to the office. “Workers were surprised when they came in on Monday morning (13/02) and realised that two computers were missing. The window was also broken and the alarm system had been tampered with.”

Nndwa said he immediately called the police to report the matter. “We did not just leave it in the hands of the police. We also conducted our own investigations to make sure that the computers were recovered. We are talking about taxpayers' money and we cannot allow criminals to do as they wish in a public institution like a municipality.”

Nndwa says he received information that the suspect was trying to sell the computers to a community member. “The community member already got information that there some computers had been stolen from the municipality. He then came to us and we called for backup from the police and went to the suspect’s house.”

He says one of the computers was found hidden in a mielie bag behind the house. “The suspect then pointed to another one that was hidden under the mattress in one of the rooms. It was quite a big breakthrough and we want to warn criminals not to take chances with municipal property, because we will end up nabbing them.”

He thanked all involved in the recovery of the computers.

The suspect had still to appear in court at the time of going to press.