SECUNDA – Last month thieves targeted old cars and bakkies – this month (October) they have tried their luck with a truck.
The 14 ton truck was stolen from a yard in Secunda mere hours after Mr Smart Muranda registered the vehicle on his name on Monday, 7 October.
“I bought it less than a week before the theft,” he explained.
“I was so excited, because I worked hard for many years to buy this used truck. This was meant to be my stepping stone for a better future.”
Mr Muranda parked the truck for the night in the driveway of the house in Witzenberg where he rents a small apartment. He was awakened at about 1.30am on Tuesday, 8 October, by the sound of a starting truck.
“I instinctively knew it was my truck, so I bolted out of bed and ran out into the street where two men were just beginning to take off in the vehicle.”
According to Mr Muranda, he scrambled up onto the back of the truck and then began beating the window on the driver’s side.
Mr Muranda grabbed hold of the driver through the window. The driver swerved across the road as he and Mr Muranda wrestled for the steering wheel.
“The second man appeared on the back of the truck as we reached the T-junction where Witzenberg Street and Hendrik de Waal Street meet.
“I saw the man reach into his jacket and I thought he was about to pull out a weapon. That is when I realized the danger of the situation and I jumped off the truck.”
Mr Muranda ran back the house to get another vehicle with which to give chase, but the tyres of all the other vehicles inside the yard had been punctured.
“The landlord phoned Roman Alarms and the police.”
The truck was recovered near Kriel several hours later.
SIPRU Security from Kriel helped Roman Tactical Response and the police to search for the stolen truck.
One of their ground crew who was on his way to Johannesburg at about 8am, spotted a passing truck fitting the same description at the 50/50 intersection between Kinross and Kriel, and Secunda and Delmas.
The truck was eventually recovered along the road between Kriel and Matla.
Although the truck’s dashboard was ripped apart and there is damage to the wiring, Mr Muranda is thankful that the vehicle has been recovered.
“It is still at the police station at this moment, but I thank God that it was found. I can still repair the damage, but I will not be able to replace the truck,” he said.
It appears that the thieves followed the same procedure as in many of the 20 vehicle theft cases reported at the Secunda Police Station in September.
They tampered with the gate motor before breaking open the gate. The gang of thieves then pushed out the vehicle into the road where they hot wired it and drove it away.
Neighbours told Ridge Times their alarm sounded several times during that night and early morning.
“We thought there was something wrong with one of the beams and we were outside when we heard three distinctive, but hushed voices. One man spoke Afrikaans, another English and the third English with a strong African accent.”
