Employer shocked to see his driver among suspects for truck arson

A director of a coal transportation company says he learnt with shock that one of the employees is allegedly behind an attack on a truck belonging to a subcontractor. 

SG Coal, a coal transportation company,  confirmed on Monday that Nelson Shongwe, who was allegedly caught on dashcam video hijacking a truck and setting it alight, was among the five men who appeared in the Ermelo magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga on Monday. 

Shongwe appeared alongside Sibusiso Mthethwa, Fundile Mpondo, Mafika Sibane and Nkosingiphile Gumede, who have all been linked to the spate of truck burnings. Their case was postponed to next week. The five are accused of conspiracy to commit malicious damage to property, robbery with aggravating circumstances and attempted murder.

SG Coal director Peter Mountford said Shongwe was identified by a private security company contracted by the subcontractor. Mountford said Shongwe was off duty at the time of the attack.

“We are shocked. We don’t employ any foreign nationals and we don’t know what motivated Mr Shongwe or the people he was aligned with. He doesn’t have a bad track record with our company and we have never experienced any issues with our workers because we don’t have foreigners in our employ.

“The prosecution process is currently under way and there will be a similar process from our side and obviously he (Shongwe) will be dismissed. As far as we know he was the only SG Coal employee out of the five men who have been arrested,” Mountford said. 

The subcontractor, who asked not to be named, said that his truck driver, who was allegedly accosted by Shongwe, was traumatised after the incident and was not keen to go back to work. He said the driver was on his way to drop off coal in Richard’s Bay when he saw two burning trucks on the N2 between eMkhondo and Ermelo. 

The subcontractor said his driver assumed that a vehicle accident had taken place and proceeded to drive slowly. The dashcam from the truck’s cabin shows the driver stopping his vehicle and talking to a person through the window.

“The man pointed what looked like a firearm at the driver and told him to get out or he will suffer the consequences. The driver opened the door and went out while the attacker, who is wearing a hoodie, took the wheel and then torched the cabin using a flammable liquid,” the subcontractor said. 

“He (the driver) ran away because he was scared. He also lost his wallet, driver’s licence, banking cards, and professional drivers’ permit,” the employer said. 

The driver had been working for him for over a year, he said. The subcontractor said the incident has had a huge impact on his business. His truck and trailer were worth R3.2m and he would have to fork out R500,000 in insurance excess fee. 

“I think the big thing is that these guys are saying they don’t want foreign drivers because foreign drivers are taking their jobs, but if I am not mistaken, all the trucks that were burnt not one of the drivers are foreign drivers,” the businessman said.

Twenty-one trucks were torched in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng in recent weeks in what has been described as co-ordinated attacks. Last 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 northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Cele said evidence pointed to “organised co-ordinated and sophisticated operations that seek to undermine and sabotage the state”. 

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