On Tuesday, 8 October 2019, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Freeway Unmarked Unit received a tip off from Crime Intelligence.
The information received was that a white Toyota Quantum pulling a trailer was in possession of stolen cellphone tower batteries belonging to Vodacom in Mpumalanga.
The vehicle was spotted, stopped and escorted to Midrand Fire Station to be off loaded. Upon searching the vehicle 5x Vodacom cellphone tower batteries and 1 roll of copper cable were discovered. The Quantum was destined for Zimbabwe.
The driver aged 48 was arrested for possession of suspected stolen property and is currently detained at Midrand SAPS.
The rife theft of cellphone tower batteries is a major headache for the telecommunications companies Vodacom and MTN. Each battery costs an estimate of R28 000.00. Incidents of theft of batteries have increased. More than 100 batteries are stolen in a week.
Vodacom said it was hopeful that the new Infrastructure Act would ensure that there were harsh sentences handed to criminals who stole or vandalised key network infrastructure, including cell tower batteries.
Members of the community are requested to report theft of batteries to law enforcement agencies. The theft of batteries leads to poor or no network in affected areas.
Report cellphone tower battery thefts on these numbers:
Vodacom 082 241 9952
MTN Call 083 123 7867
Telkom 0800 124 000
Cell C 084 135
SAPS 10 111
Or email anonymous@tipoffs.com
