Two deputy directors of the Department of Land Affairs are expected to appear in court on Thursday after suspected stolen antique books were found in their possession, police said on Wednesday.
The two attended a seminar at a hotel in Rustenburg when the books disappeared from the Paul Kruger museum, which forms part of the hotel complex, said Captain Daphne Cronjé, commander of the Pretoria Moot detective branch.
Following up information, police arrested the two men at their
Pretoria homes on Tuesday night. Two books and a photograph album were found in the possession of one of the officials and another photo album in the other’s house, Cronjé said.
Among the items seized were a receipt book and a book with financial statements, written with a fountain-pen around the start of the previous century.
The albums contained very old photographs of Rustenburg, she said.
”The owner says they are priceless. We have asked the museum personnel to give us an assessment.” The two deputy directors, aged 34 and 39, were warned to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of possession of stolen property, Cronjé said. – Sapa