Security firm catches alleged truck arsonist near Piet Retief
The man was caught in the early hours of Thursday by a security agency hired by a trucking company
13 July 2023 - 10:53
byJeanette Chabalala
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A truck torched on the N2 in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Picture: SUPPLIED.
One of the men believed to have been responsible for the arson attacks that saw four trucks torched on the N2 between Piet Retief and Ermelo in Mpumalanga has been arrested.
A private security firm contracted by one of the companies whose trucks were burnt on Wednesday apprehended the man just outside Piet Retief.
The company’s operations manager, Bester Maree, said they caught the man in the early hours of Thursday following an intelligence-driven operation and handed him over to the police at about 3am. The man has been charged with malicious damage to property.
A total of 21 trucks have been torched in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng in what has been described as co-ordinated attacks.
On Wednesday, police minister Bheki Cele announced that 12 people of interest had been identified through investigation and intelligence collection, with most of them located in the northern KwaZulu-Natal area.
Cele said evidence pointed to “organised co-ordinated and sophisticated operations that seek to undermine and sabotage the state”.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said police were in possession of videos they were analysing and would “follow up on those people that are on those videos”.
In one of the recent videos, a dashcam from a truck’s cabin shows the driver stopping his vehicle and then talking to the person who had stopped him through the window.
He then gets out of the truck and another man wearing a hoodie takes the driver’s seat and starts spraying a flammable substance on the bed behind and sets the truck on fire.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said he did not know anything about the arrest and asked SowetanLIVE for more information.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Security firm catches alleged truck arsonist near Piet Retief
The man was caught in the early hours of Thursday by a security agency hired by a trucking company
One of the men believed to have been responsible for the arson attacks that saw four trucks torched on the N2 between Piet Retief and Ermelo in Mpumalanga has been arrested.
A private security firm contracted by one of the companies whose trucks were burnt on Wednesday apprehended the man just outside Piet Retief.
The company’s operations manager, Bester Maree, said they caught the man in the early hours of Thursday following an intelligence-driven operation and handed him over to the police at about 3am. The man has been charged with malicious damage to property.
A total of 21 trucks have been torched in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng in what has been described as co-ordinated attacks.
On Wednesday, police minister Bheki Cele announced that 12 people of interest had been identified through investigation and intelligence collection, with most of them located in the northern KwaZulu-Natal area.
Cele said evidence pointed to “organised co-ordinated and sophisticated operations that seek to undermine and sabotage the state”.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said police were in possession of videos they were analysing and would “follow up on those people that are on those videos”.
In one of the recent videos, a dashcam from a truck’s cabin shows the driver stopping his vehicle and then talking to the person who had stopped him through the window.
He then gets out of the truck and another man wearing a hoodie takes the driver’s seat and starts spraying a flammable substance on the bed behind and sets the truck on fire.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said he did not know anything about the arrest and asked SowetanLIVE for more information.
SowetanLIVE
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