MOPANI – Three men, Thomas Polile (50) of Mamelodi in Pretoria, Elias Mogwabane (51) of Mashishimale settlement in the Phalaborwa area and Solomon Mashaba (48) of Namakgale Township appeared briefly in the Namakgale magistrate's court on Monday on a charge of copper theft.

The incident relating to the case took place in the premises of the PMC Mine in Phalaborwa last Saturday night. According to police spokesperson in the Mopani Area Capt Moatshe Ngoepe the suspects were allegedly loading copper wires onto a truck and two bakkies when police arrived at the scene.

The vehicles were parked outside the fence surrounding the mine next to the local graveyard while the suspects were loading the copper wires from within the premises. The police got a tip off about the incident and rushed to the scene.

The suspects were all arrested at the scene. They were not asked to plead when they appeared in court on Monday and the case was postponed until next week Wednesday, March 12. They will be in custody until this date as their bail application was turned down.

According to a statement by the police the value of the copper, which was loaded on the truck, is estimated at about half a million Rand. Mashaba was arrested for stealing copper from the same mine last November and was released on a R10 000 bail. The statement further indicates that Mashaba and Mogwabane were previously employed at the same mine.