By REGINALD KANYANE
30 July 2025- The North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng lauded the members of The Eagles Unit for recovery of stolen vehicles in Zeerust. Morweng said the traffic officers were on their regular patrol when they stopped a vehicle with Botswana registration number.
He further said the driver was allegedly driving recklessly entering Zeerust CBD on the R49 road from Mahikeng direction. Morweng added that, after stopping the vehicle, the traffic officers did the inspection as per procedure and discovered that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) displayed on vehicle licence discs and on the vehicle are not the same.
“The vehicle was taken to Zeerust Police Station for further investigation and it was discovered that it had been reported stolen earlier on 17 July 2025, in Brooklyn, near Pretoria.
Later on the same day, another vehicle also reported to have been stolen in Brooklyn, was stopped by the provincial traffic officers on N4 road, near Groot Marico hamlet.
“The traffic officers had stopped the vehicle for a routine check and discovered that it had also been circulated as stolen. Both drivers who are Botswana nationals have been arrested,” said Morweng.
He said on another unrelated matter, a tracking company sent out a notice of a stolen vehicle on Tuesday around early afternoon. Morweng said the vehicle was tracked to Zeerust and onto R49 driving towards Mahikeng.
“The law enforcement officers pursued it. They found out that it is a civil matter between the husband and the wife. The wife, who was panic-stricken and distraught when stopped, said she did not understand why the husband had reported the car stolen after what appeared to have been a family tiff.
“The matter was resolved amicably and she was allowed to go after a verification procedure that proved that indeed the vehicle belongs to the family and was not stolen as reported.
However, we appeal to the members of the community that they should desist from falsely reporting incidents of wrongdoing,” he said.
Morweng said people could be charged for perjury, defeating the ends of justice and wasting state resources for misleadingly reporting crime that did not take place. He said it is also risky because as was nearly the case with this one, the law enforcement would have shot the speeding car, if it did not stop.
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