Malalane - Police have arrested four suspected ATM bombers and seized explosives in the town of Malalane in Mpumalanga.
Acting Mpumalanga Police Commissioner, Rex Machabi's spokesperson, Captain Leonard Hlathi, said the suspects were arrested at 7:30am on Tuesday while the police were conducting a stop and search operation on the N4 highway.
"The police stopped a Mazda 5 carrying four occupants and fitted with false Gauteng registration plates," said Captain Hlathi.
He said the police ran a check on the vehicle which was found to have been stolen from a house in Springs in Gauteng, in May.
A police sniffer dog also sniffed out explosives in the car, which included enough dynamite and 17 detonator caps to bomb three ATMs.
"Further to be discovered was a pair of hand gloves and two balaclavas," said Hlathi.
The suspects will be charged with possession of explosives and a stolen motor vehicle.
Two of the suspects are from Mpumalanga, one from Soweto and the fourth is believed to be from Angola. They are between the ages of 27 and 44 and will appear in the Malalane Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, at the same police roadblock, police stopped a minibus taxi from Schoemansdal, just south of Malalane, and confiscated 25kg of dagga with a street value of R25 000. The dagga was allegedly smuggled in from Swaziland and was found stashed amongst luggage in the taxi.
Three suspects, all of whom are South Africans, were arrested and are also expected to appear in the Malalane magistrate's court on Wednesday.
