Truck owners furious over alleged theft from within Delmas Police premises
When some of the truck drivers were asked about the condition they left the trucks when confiscated by the police on various dates, they said the vehicles were roadworthy and all driven into the Camp 13 yard at the Delmas Police Station.
A group of disgruntled truck owners gathered at the Delmas Police Station on November 3. They contacted Streek News and on arrival at the police station found various vehicles broken into, ransacked and stripped of essential cables and batteries.
A hired towing truck was busy moving some of these vehicles from the premises, as these various vehicles were unable to be driven out.
According to the truck owners group spokesperson, Lukas Mahlangu, five vehicles were booked in at the Delmas SAPS Camp 13 after it was impounded for suspicion of various crimes.
The vehicles were, however, released and when the group of truck owners arrived at the station on November 2, they were shocked about the condition of their trucks.
“The windows were smashed, entire dashboards stripped of all wiring and other essentials, batteries stolen and much more damage,” said Mahlangu.
“The computer boxes were removed from some of our trucks,” said one owner who wants to stay anonymous.
When some of the truck drivers were asked about the condition of the trucks when confiscated by the police on various dates, they all said the vehicles were roadworthy and all driven into the Camp 13 yard at the Delmas Police Station.
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“We now have skeletons for vehicles. All of our vehicles have to be towed out of Camp 13. None is driveable.
“We will have to pay for repairs, the towing and loss of income. We did, during a meeting, confront the Delmas SAPS management, but they did not come back to us with concrete answers,” Mahlangu added.
“We cannot trust the police to protect our citizens. I believe this is an inside job. How else can thieves enter and leave the police station with such obvious items without being questioned?
“They must have had plenty of time to break windows and strip vehicles. Something is not right.”
The media spokesperson for the Delmas police, Captain Carla Hartley said, “The Delmas police are well aware of cases of theft from vehicles in our Camp 13 yard, and investigations into the matter are ongoing.”
Hartley further confirmed cases have been opened by the police station’s Camp 13 officer for the various incidents, including for the five vehicle owners referred to by Mahlangu.
“We have made some arrests concerning theft from within Camp 13.”
Asked if the Delmas police suspected an inside job, Hartley said she could not comment about that at this stage.
At the time of going to print, Mahlangu confirmed they had opened cases at the Delmas police station, but were still waiting for case numbers.
