Welkom – Welkom police have seized a large quantity of food packages and cigarettes worth about R500 000 destined for illegal miners working underground, Free State police said on Saturday.
Katlego Security officers were keeping the St Helena mine premises in Welkom under observation early on Saturday morning when they noticed a white bakkie dropping off people at about 1.40am, Captain Stephen Thakeng said.
The bakkie drove off and a short while later a large white truck arrived and parked next to the St Helena mine shaft 10 ventilation shaft, “a place where neatly packed food is put to reach illegal miners underground”, he said.
The driver fled on foot and disappeared into the dark when he spotted the security officers.
The food packages were mostly labelled for one “Themba Kaba”, who was supposedly to have received the delivery via the ventilation shaft. Welkom SA Police Service (SAPS) officers were called to the scene and the packages were seized “as abandoned items”.
The packages contained, among other things, packets of peanuts, 500ml bottles of Coca-Cola and Stoney ginger beer, 1kg packages of instant Ace porridge, strawberry cream biscuits, Bull Brand corned meat, and cigarettes, all with a street value of about R500 000.
“This breakthrough is as a result of [the] partnership we [SAPS] have with other stakeholders, like security personnel, to fight crime”, Thakeng said.
African News Agency (ANA)