SAPS have confirmed the arrest of a third suspect linked to the torching of nine trucks in Mpumalanga this week.
The latest arrest comes hot on the heels of the arrest of two others on Wednesday night.
This comes as the province saw its own wave of trucks being set alight earlier in the week in Piet Retief, Ermelo, as well as on the N4, following the first incident in KZN on Sunday morning.
This forced motorists on the N3 near the Van Reenen Pass to delay their trips after they awoke to the torching of six trucks.
Police reported that a group of armed assailants carrying guns forced truck drivers out of their vehicles before setting their vehicles alight in the early hours of Sunday morning, in an incident that sparked a wave of similar incidents in other provinces, including Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Police spokesperson Athlende Mathe said the latest suspect will appear alongside the two suspects, aged 27 and 29, before the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court on Monday, and she said more arrests would be made in the coming days.
‘’Police are hot on the heels of arresting more suspects who are linked to the sporadic truck attacks in the province. Law enforcement agencies are continuing with their multi-disciplinary operations, including stop and searching and the tracing of these wanted suspects,’’ Mathe said.
In KZN, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said the provincial police had apprehended nine suspects linked to nine truck attacks in that province, and she said these suspects were taken in for questioning on Wednesday.
However, the Premier said she was not sure if the nine are part of the 12 persons of interest identified by police minister Bheki Cele during his briefing in Pretoria on Wednesday.
In total, 21 trucks have been set alight following the spate of truck attacks since the start of the week.
Cele, in his briefing, dismissed suggestions that the latest incidents are linked to the July 2021 unrest.
‘’Evidence before us points to organised, coordinated, and sophisticated operations that seek to undermine and sabotage the state,’’ he said.