During an unprecedented raid by the police at the monthly Welkom Flea Market, which has existed for more than 40 years now, seven people were arrested for selling suspected stolen items originating from a national retail outlet.
A total of seven stalls were inspected and goods valued at thousands of rands were confiscated.
The confiscated goods were taken to the Welkom Police Station, where each item was scanned.
Brian Emmenis, chairman of the Welkom Publicity Association (WPA), says that on Saturday (12/08) officials from a national supermarket chain requested that the flea market liaison officer inspect some of the stalls.
“According to these officials the retail stores are losing millions as a result of theft of their stock.
“It was not long and their visit produced results. The investigators called the police, who then cordoned off the stand,” says Emmenis.
He then contacted the head of security for the retail group, who is based in Cape Town.
“He confirmed to me that he had teams busy with similar investigations nationwide.”
Emmenis says that due to the complexity of the raid, a large number of agents were rushed to Welkom and this resulted in the police having to dispatch more members with extra vehicles.
The retail company agents were able to determine exactly where the product came from, as each item was branded and coded. Most of the stock inspected was positively identified as products being sold by these specific stores, and was confiscated.
Despite the mayhem caused by the raid, the market continued as normal with few repercussions, and Emmenis thanked the public for their co-operation.
Both Emmenis and Kevin Charlwood, deputy chairman of the WPA, say this is the first time that they had witnessed an operation of this nature at the market.
“The WPA does not have any input into what the exhibitors sell, but we will not condone the selling of any illegal goods.
“On Saturday the market had 147 stalls, the largest number since the return after Covid-19,” says Emmenis.
Capt. Stephen Thakeng, media liaison officer for the Lejweleputswa police, has confirmed that the police arrested seven people with suspected stolen items for sale at the flea market.
