Johannesburg police arrested two Cameroonian men on Tuesday in connection with a series of thefts and robberies of computers and other electronic equipment in the Gauteng area.
Police representative Inspector Amanda Roestoff said the 43-year-old owner of an Orange Grove second-hand computer dealership and his 37-year-old technical assistant were arrested.
She said police also seized around 100 personal computers, laptops, copiers, fax machines, servers, TV sets, and M-Net and DSTV decoders. The equipment was valued at an estimated R2-million.
Speaking from the scene outside Extreme Computers on the corner of Seventh and Louis Botha avenues, Roestoff said the two men, both legal immigrants, were arrested after three reservists carrying out
routine inspections became suspicious when they could not produce proper papers for the equipment in the shop. They were taken into custody around 6pm.
The provincial task team established to investigate a series of robberies and thefts at businesses and organisations in Gauteng, including agriculture and land affairs MEC Mary Metcalfe’s offices, was called in. Roestoff said police could not yet positively link
the equipment to individual incidents.
The two would appear in court soon, Roestoff said. – Sapa