A former Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits player is set to appear in court over alleged stolen goods.
Reports in local media surfaced this week, indicating that the former Buccaneer is set to appear in court. The Hawks have since confirmed that the footballer is one of the two suspects who were nabbed this week in Lombardy East, allegedly for a string of armed robberies and are set to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court today.
The Siya crew has since been informed by sources that the player in question is Patrick Phungwayo.
The crew made contact with the Hawks to get further the details, however, the authorities have opted to send a statement on the matter:
"This afternoon, the Hawks' Tactical Operational Management Section with Crime Intelligence, Tracker Connect, Badboyz Security, Ekurhuleni District Zone Ops Team, GTP Saturation, Insurance Crime Bureau, Vision Tactical Security and BSG Security arrested two suspects aged 33 and 46 in Lombardy East for a string of armed robberies. They will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court soon," the Hawks confirmed in a statement.
"The team received information about a gang of armed men using an Audi during hijackings and home invasions in Gauteng suburbs. They proceeded to Lombardy East where the gang was spotted. Police intercepted them when they entered residential premises and were immediately apprehended," confirmed the Hawks.
"Three firearms, house breaking implements, gloves, balaclavas and a stolen television set as well as cellphones were found inside the vehicle. The Audi had false registration plates and was robbed in Bramley earlier this year. A Kia Picanto was also found in the same premises and it also had false registration plates positively identified as robbed from the owner in Linden in June," reads the statement.
"Preliminary investigation has linked the suspects to a number of hijackings and armed robberies. The stolen items including a television set were positively identified by the owner where the suspects had allegedly accosted and robbed them in Honeydew. The investigation to link the suspects to other robberies is continuing and we are not ruling out the possibility of arresting more suspects," concludes the statement.
The Siya crew made attempts to contact Phungwayo, but he could not be reached for comment.
