Ivory Park police have on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, arrested two suspects for possession of suspected stolen property and illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm at Mzondi informal settlement in Ivory Park.
Officers on duty received a tip off that property was delivered to a particular shack in the early hours of that morning. On arrival the officers found furniture, appliances, clothes, cutlery, bedding, and gardening tools. On asking the owner of the place, a 43 year-old man who does tiles for a living, his response was that the goods were indeed brought to his place in the wee hours of the morning by his friend, whose address and phone numbers he claims not to know. He was arrested for possession of the mentioned property, since he couldn’t provide a proper explanation about the origin of the property.
On making follow-ups, the police learnt that there was also a firearm involved. They later found the firearm in question, a pistol with five rounds of live ammunition and had its serial filed off. A 24-year- old man was arrested after he was found in possession of that firearm. He, like the suspect in possession of property case, couldn’t give a satisfactory explanation as for the ownership of the firearm, and how it ended up in his possession.
The station commander of the Ivory Park SAPS, Brigadier David Mbongeni Ngcobo, has welcomed these arrests, further extending his heartfelt appreciation to the community member who took it upon themselves to inform the police of their suspicion.
“Tipping the police about crime and criminal activities is an effective way of fighting crime. It is a good partnership that we as the SAPS are strongly encouraging. Potential informants are again reminded that they don’t have to give out their details if they don’t want to. We are interested in the details surrounding the criminal and their activities, rather than who is informing,” said Brigadier Ngcobo.
The 43 and 24 year-old suspects are expected to appear in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court to answer to possession of suspected stolen property and illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition respectively.