VANDERBIJLPARK – A few weekends ago many residents worriedly inquired with Vaalweekblad about a large cloud of black smoke that hung over a part of the town.

Motorists were the first to see the fire and the enormous cloud of smoke along the R59 motorway at the Barrage junction. Residents of the area complained to Vaalweekblad shortly afterward that their eyes and throats were burning badly due to the smoke. According to a fire brigade expert from the Vaal Triangle, who requested not to be identified, it was presumably old vehicle tires that were set on fire.

“This trend is seen more and more in the Vaal Triangle – almost daily. The perpetrators drive bakkie loads of old tires to open spaces in the Vaal Triangle, where they set them on fire. They then come back the next day to pick up the burnt metal that was in the tires and sell it to recyclers as scrap,” says the expert.

“When the fire services become aware of such a fire, our people immediately attend to it. The municipal waste department then comes to remove the burnt metal wires. We try to block the perpetrators in this way, but the next day they are just back in another place.”

Several open areas in the Vaal Triangle are targeted by offenders, especially in areas where their activities will not be noticed quickly. Currently, the area behind Samancor in Midvaal is also a preferred area for the offenders.

“It’s a problem nationwide. This is probably only a consequence of the high unemployment as people are increasingly trying to make money in unacceptable ways for survival. Companies that make tires available to such people for free are part of the problem. So are the companies that purchase this type of scrap. We will only be able to stop it if all those involved start working together,” says the expert.