Three suspects aged 39, 41, and 46, will appear before the Welkom Magistrate’s Court soon, on a charge of possession of explosives (Contravention of Section 6(1) of the Explosives Act 26 of 1956 - No person shall keep, store, or be in possession of any unauthorised explosives in or on any premises).
On Monday afternoon, 18 May 2026, members of the Welkom #AntiGangUnit were on duty in the Lejweleputswa District when they received information from Thabong Crime Intelligence about three suspects who were in possession of explosives.
It was alleged that the three suspects (two males and one female) were walking on foot on Virginia Road on their way to the Virginia CBD, where it was further alleged that they were going to sell the explosives to a buyer who intended to use them in bombing a cash vehicle.
The information was operationalised, and the members intercepted the three suspects near the Quest filling station in Virginia. The information was positive, as the suspects were found with the explosives in a bag. None of them wanted to take accountability for the explosives, as they started pointing fingers at each other. They were all subsequently arrested.
The Explosives Unit and Local Criminal Record Centre experts were summoned to the scene, and all the explosives were seized. The suspects were found with the following items:
- 12 green shock tube assemblies
- 5 white blasting cartridges
- 15 yellow detonators
- 1 Vivo cellphone