An SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) employee has been arrested for acts of terrorism relating to the white powder scare at its offices, the Hawks said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Yesterday afternoon [Wednesday], the Organised Crime Unit of the Hawks in Gauteng arrested a 28-year-old employee of the South African National Road Agency (Sanral) on charges relating to acts of terrorism,” Captain Paul Ramaloko said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The man was arrested at Sanral’s Central Operations Centre in Centurion while on duty. During his arrest a cellphone, suspected of having been an instrument used to commit the offence, was seized.”<\/p>\n
Sanral employees were evacuated from their Midrand offices in Gauteng on three different occasions recently after two white powder scares — which turned out to be harmless — and a bomb threat.<\/p>\n
“The motive for the suspect’s alleged offence is unknown, investigations are continuing,” said Ramaloko.<\/p>\n
The employee is expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges relating to acts of terrorism.<\/p>\n
The employee was tracked down through a call made from his cellphone, the Hawks said.<\/p>\n
“We linked him via his cellphone which was used to make a call,” said Captain Paul Ramaloko.<\/p>\n
“We are not sure if he was operating the cellphone alone.”<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Soweto man was accused of involvement in two white powder scares and a bomb scare at the SA National Roads Agency Limited headquarters in the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
“We are convinced that we netted the mastermind behind all three incidents,” said Ramaloko.<\/p>\n
The bomb scare took place on Sunday. The building was evacuated and a sweep carried out. No bomb was found.<\/p>\n
The premises was also evacuated on Tuesday and Friday after a suspicious powder, initially feared to be anthrax, was found.<\/p>\n
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) later reported that the substance was harmless, but said it could not comment further as the case was sub judice.<\/p>\n
E-tolls blamed for the rise in cloned plates<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n E-tolls unaffected by bomb threat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sanral accused of collusion on e-tolls<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n