COPS SHOOT, KILL 2 COPPER THEFT SUSPECTS AFTER CHASE

MANZINI – Two men who were suspected of stealing copper wire died after being shot by the police after a dramatic chase yesterday.

The copper, according to the police, belonged to Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC). The duo was shot dead at Dwaleni, which is about 21 kilometres from the city of Manzini. It has been gathered that community members raised the alarm with the police after they saw a fire along a portion of land adjacent to a canal.

The piece of land where the fire was, according to sources, was being used by copper thieves to strip cables and burn the copper before selling it at scrapyards.
It was gathered that when the police arrived at the scene at about 6am, the duo, after spotting the officers, fled on foot. A group of about seven police officers are said to have given chase; however, they (suspects) did not heed their call to surrender themselves. It was said that they ran east of where they were first spotted and, seeing that the police were hot on their heels, the two are said to have dropped the two sacks they were carrying.

Fleeing

As this happened, the police fired several shots in the air, hoping that the fleeing men would stop but they kept running. It was gathered that the men were both shot in an effort to contain them. It was further gathered that the suspects were rushed to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital for medical attention as they were bleeding profusely. However, they were certified dead by a medical doctor upon arrival.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that two suspects were shot while fleeing from the police.
She said they were shot after all means had been made to stop them. Vilakati, who was found at the scene, said the pair had been found in unlawful possession of copper cables.The police spokesperson said the copper, which had been stripped and packed into two sacks, was said to weigh about 101kg. She said the police were still investigating where the copper had been stolen. Worth noting is that Dwaleni has a number of commercial farms and next to it is the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).

Hospital

Vilakati said: “While police were still dealing with taking the two suspects to hospital, a car was seen driving up and down the road. The police stopped it and discovered that the driver could be linked to the case.” The car, which was found at the scene, is a red Ford Fiesta. Vilakati said the third suspect, aged 29, was arrested. The deceased, according to Vilakati, were estimated to be aged 30.  It was gathered that in the car, there were clothes, suspected to have been intended to be used by the deceased and change from what they were wearing when stripping and burning the copper. Vilakati appealed to the public to desist from fleeing when stopped by the police.

Over E6.5 million worth of copper, according to the National Commissioner of Police, William Dlamini, had been stolen and the Manzini Region is leading with over 65 per cent of recorded cases. Worth noting is that the effects of copper theft in the kingdom have a direct consequence to vandalism of infrastructure and power shortage, which compromise industries’ production and result in intermittent disruptions in general, which in turn reduces profit margins of organisations.
Also, government and non-governmental industries’ operations become compromised as well.

This act, according to Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC), further endangers lives while also affecting education for courses like Information Technology (IT), compromise job sustainability as continuous disruption of business affects business production and result in retrenchments, down scaling and job losses to manage overhead expenses.

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