Hijacked courier truck, carrying exam papers recovered on R42 near Delmas
Whilst driving on the R21, a white VW Polo with flashing blue lights and a siren apparently emerged, forcing the driver of the truck to stop.
A Hino courier truck, apparently loaded with examination papers and reportedly from Elandsfontein en route to Polokwane, was hijacked and left abandoned between Delmas and Bronkhorstspruit last week.
According to a media statement released by the office of the Mpumalanga Police Commissioner on November 29, the truck departed from Elandsfontein in Gauteng and was heading for Limpopo.
Whilet driving on the R21, a white VW Polo with flashing blue lights and a siren apparently emerged, forcing the driver of the truck to stop.
A gang of five men, dressed in police uniforms and carrying pistols and a rifle, alighted from the VW Polo.
Two of the men climbed into the Hino. They covered the driver’s face and cuffed his hands.
The driver’s employer called regularly to find out if everything was in order and according to the victim, he had no choice but to respond that all was well.
However, the tracking company, Nova Logistics, became suspicious and immediately activated the tracking device for the specific truck.
At about 06:00 that morning, the truck was recovered at the Waaikraal informal settlement on the R42 road between Delmas and Bronkhorstspruit.
The suspects apparently robbed the victim of his cellphone and money before dumping him off on the R50 Delmas road.
Most of the cargo was missing.
According to Jane Sithole, Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson on education, the truck carried examination papers.
The Delmas Police contacted Diana Bath, DA Councillor at Victor Khanye Local Municipality, to assist with contact numbers of the Mpumalanga and Gauteng departments of Education to establish the origin of the exam papers.
A trustworthy contact confirmed to Streeknuus that these were not matric examination papers, but those of a private college.
Sithole stated that the public should be more concerned by the fact that the escalating cases of truck hijackings and kidnappings in Delmas now also affected the future of the children.
“This hijacking literally means that the students who were supposed to write their exams in Limpopo may have had to be postponed because of criminals who have no regard for others,” said Sithole.
Sithole further stated the DA is concerned that in this technological era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, exam papers are still transported by trucks, exposing them to such cases of hijackings.
“This is contributing significantly to the increasing unemployment rate and the economic downward spiral in Mpumalanga.”
According to Sithole, the crime statistics for the second quarter of 2022/23 indicate that between July and September, Delmas was ranked the police station with the most truck jackings in the country.
“Even more concerning to note is that Delmas was ranked fourth out of the top 30 police stations in the country when it came to the reporting of kidnapping cases. The precinct reported 47 cases from July to September,” Sithole concluded.
A case of hijacking, with an additional charge of armed robbery, is being investigated by the police.
Anyone with information that might assist in apprehending the suspects, is urged to call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111 or send information via MySAPSapp.
All information received will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.