This follows the sharing of an image showing a gang of men that a Facebook user claimed were caught digging up a cable in Van Dyk Park.
The Facebook user posted the image showing four men lying on the ground facing down on September 10 and claimed that Makopano security officers caught them in the act of stealing cable in the area.
The post had been shared 136 times by Thursday morning.
Reacting to what they described as false and misleading misinformation circulating on the platform, the police said the men were not found digging up cable, as there is no cable line in the veld where they were found digging, and nothing illegal was found in their possession.
Police, however, suspected that because the area is closer to an abandoned mining site, the group of four men wanted to reach gold particles believed to be in the soil underground.
Based on those suspicions, the men’s picks and shovels were confiscated. Although nothing illegal was found in their possession, the men were taken to the Boksburg Police Station, where they were questioned, profiled and later released without being charged with any criminal offence.
Makopano Risk Solutions echoed the police’s statement, saying whoever posted the photo and the false information is misleading the public.
