Cape Town - While the police were commended for their swift action in apprehending two boys in connection with a fire at the Cape Town station, the United National Transport Union (Untu) raised questions about who allegedly sent them.
Untu on Thursday said it had serious doubts that a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old were behind the attack of November 28 during which 18 carriages were gutted. The 14-year-old, a pupil at a school in Ruyterwacht, was arrested on Monday in Elsies River after a fellow learner recognised his face on an identikit.
A teacher went to his house, where the grandmother told him that her grandson said he had been threatened by a 15-year-old boy from Delft to set alight to the trains. According to the grandmother, the boy was told if he didn’t co-operate, his family would be hurt. It was the 14-year-old’s statement that put police on the trail of the second suspect in Delft.
Steve Harris, general secretary of Untu, said: “It’s sad that the arrests this week only came after the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa made CCTV footage available and a reward of R100 000 for information that would lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of the suspects.”
ANC provincial Interim Committee co-ordinator Ronaldo Nalumango said: “We welcome the arrests and are hopeful they will lead the SAPS to uncover who and what is behind this form of economic sabotage.
“The arrests show that crime can be beaten if the community and SAPS works together.”
After a brief appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, both the boys were remanded in juvenile custody until their next court appearance on January 9.
@TheCapeArgus