FREE STATE TRT ARRESTS TRUCK DRIVER WITH SUSPECTED STOLEN COPPER CABLES WORTH R3 MILLION:
The Free State Tactical Response Team (TRT) has arrested a 47-year-old truck driver after police intercepted a horse-and-trailer truck transporting suspected stolen essential infrastructure components destined for Gauteng.
Police acted on a tip-off on Friday, 12 June 2026, and intercepted the white Volvo FH truck near a filling station within the Glen policing precinct. During a search of the truck, officers discovered copper cables protruding from torn bags.
The driver was escorted back to Bloemfontein, where the truck was taken to Parkweg Police Station and later to Bainsvlei Police Station for a detailed inspection and unloading of the cargo.
Experts from Centlec, Telkom and Eskom assisted police in identifying the recovered materials. Authorities confirmed that the load included copper cables, Air-dac components and high-tension cable insulation used for electricity supply and street lighting infrastructure.
In total, nine large bags of essential infrastructure components were seized.
Centlec identified approximately 5 760kg of infrastructure components with an estimated replacement value of R3 million, while Telkom confirmed that 40kg of its cable, valued at around R4 500, was also recovered.
Free State Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thabang Solomon Lesia condemned the theft of critical infrastructure, warning that copper cable theft severely impacts communities, businesses and essential services.
A case relating to the Criminal Matters Amendment Act and possession of suspected stolen essential infrastructure has been opened at Glen Police Station.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 15 June 2026.
🚨 The criticism surrounding FIFA, Gianni Infantino and the organisation of this World Cup continues to grow.
Writing for The Guardian, award-winning columnist Jonathan Liew delivered a scathing assessment of FIFA's president following a series of controversies, including the situation involving referee Omar Artan.
🗣️ Liew: "Given his own self-image as a kind of messianic pan-global statesman, there is a certain irony in the fact that this summer will cement his legacy as one of sport’s greatest cowards: a weak and petty man who lost control of his own tournament. A man who quivered in the face of genuine conviction. A man who had the world’s most powerful cultural force in his hands, and ended up giving it away."
If you've ever seen the Senegalese ultras doing their thing, then you will know what an absolute travesty this is. Yet another stain on this racist, corporate World Cup of chaos.
@Ke3ndry_ You would never have seen such during the South African 2010 Football world cup 😲😲😲 we had translators left,right, centre, top and underneath 😅😅😅😅😅 We accommodated the world like it was a norm 🇿🇦❤️🔥🇿🇦🫶🏾🇿🇦 I can't believe what I just watched 🤯🤯
Thami Mnyele was killed on this day in 1985. The South African anti-apartheid artist and activist was shot dead by South African Defence Force (SADF) soldiers during a cross-border raid in Gaborone, Botswana. Image Source: Medu Art Ensemble Collection/UCLA
🚨🗣️New: Thierry Henry reacts to the Brazil, Morocco, and Netherlands press conferences, where questions in Spanish were reportedly not permitted for Hakimi, Vinícius Jr., and Frenkie de Jong:
“I have covered World Cups for years, and this situation makes absolutely no sense to me. You’re telling me a World Cup co-hosted by Mexico can stop journalists from asking questions in Spanish? That’s like hosting a Formula 1 race and banning cars from using their engines.
We saw it with Hakimi. We saw it with Vinícius. Now we’re hearing similar stories involving Frenkie de Jong. The players understood the questions. The journalists spoke one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. Yet somehow the language became the problem.
Gianni Infantino talks about inclusion, diversity, and bringing football to everyone. Fine. Then explain this contradiction. How can FIFA celebrate diversity in every promotional video and then create headlines because Spanish journalists are being told to switch languages at a tournament hosted by Mexico?
Spanish isn’t some obscure dialect spoken by a handful of people. It’s the language of hundreds of millions across the Americas and beyond. If a journalist from Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, or anywhere else asks a question in Spanish and the player understands it, why is football creating barriers where none existed?
The irony is unbelievable. FIFA keeps telling us football belongs to everyone, but this controversy has many fans asking whether some voices are more welcome than others.
Maybe there’s a logistical explanation. Maybe it’s a translation issue. But perception matters. And right now the perception is terrible.
Because what fans are seeing is simple: a World Cup hosted partly by a Spanish-speaking nation, players who understand Spanish, journalists who speak Spanish, and officials telling them not to use Spanish.
If that’s progress, somebody needs to explain it better. Because from the outside, it looks like football’s governing body is tripping over its own message.”
“FIFA wanted a celebration of diversity. Instead, they’ve handed the internet a controversy that won’t stop being discussed.”