Blazing truck the result of a hijacking
They pulled over at an open field near Daveyton in Etwatwa, removed Mhembeswa from the vehicle and forced him to drink two bottles of brandy. He eventually passed out and the suspects left him there unconscious.
MBOMBELA – It is believed that the truck which caught fire on the N4 last Friday, was hijacked. The hijackers apparently planned to smuggle the vehicle across the Mozambican border, but their apparent lack of truck-driving skills caused the air brakes to catch fire, charring the truck’s cab and trailers.
According to Co. Johannes Rampura of the Springs SAPS, the truck driver was stopped by a small white car with five occupants near Springs last Friday afternoon. The men jumped out and pointed a handgun at him. As the driver, Mr Nkosinathi Mhembeswa, got out of the drivers’ seat, four men jumped in the truck and sped off with him still in the cab.
They pulled over at an open field near Daveyton in Etwatwa, removed Mhembeswa from the vehicle and forced him to drink two bottles of brandy. He eventually passed out and the suspects left him there unconscious. He woke up in the rain on Saturday morning, started walking to the nearest town to call for help and reported the case to Springs police.
Col Rampura believes the hijackers were on their way to smuggle the vehicle across the Lebombo border to Mozambique, which is why they were on the N4.
According to Marni Luyt, public relations officer for Anderson Transport who contracted the truck, the hijackers did not know how to drive the vehicle. “The truck went off the designated route,” Luyt said. “We suspect the hijackers drove the truck in low gear and applied the brakes continuously, which sparked the inferno.”
The truck had been contracted to transport rolls of paper pulp from Sappi Ngodwana to Sappi Ensta Mills in Springs, Gauteng. The value of the paper is an estimated R350 000.
“Anderson Transport will see to it that the damage on the N4 is repaird since it was our truck which caused it,” Luyt said.
Mpumalanga Fire and Rescue were the first on the scene. According to operational manager Mr Greg Fouché, it did not take them long to extinguish the flames.
The five suspects are still at large. SAPS Springs are still investigating the matter.
