A truck driver (34) together with his accomplice (34) were both arrested in Bushbuckridge on Tuesday 29 August 2023 for allegedly planning and staging a hijacking and robbery of a truck loaded with liquor valued at about R50,000-00. Their arrest came as a result of an intensive investigation by the police in Bushbuckridge.
According to information, on that Tuesday morning (23 August 2023) at about 06:45, the truck driver, employed by a certain beverage wholesaler was driving a truck loaded with alcohol beverages along the R533 Road together with two of his crews.
The three were reportedly assigned to deliver at Matibidi Trust and as they approached near Inyaka Dam, two armed men are said to have emerged from the nearby bushes then held them at gunpoint.
The suspects are said to have told the driver to stop the truck before they got inside to further inform him to drive towards a certain shop nearby. The truck took a turn towards Bushbuckridge then drove towards Boikhutso and finally went to the bushes in Xanthia Trust. It is in these bushes whereby the driver’s manager called to find out where the truck was but only to be informed that they were in Graskop.
Further allegations are that the suspects and the two crew members reportedly went to the back of the truck where they began offloading the alcohol beverages. Thereafter the armed men let them go.
The driver reportedly drove to Bushbuckridge Police Station though the Police were already informed about the incident. A case was subsequently opened and members began with the investigation whereby the scene at Xanthia, near the bushes was visited.
During the probe, members noticed a grey Toyota Hilux with a canopy. On closer look, members realised that the bakkie was loaded with alcohol beverages and that was the time members tried to stop its driver. The man instead ignored the men and women in Blue by running away on foot in an effort to evade the arrest but was later apprehended. The bakkie as well as the luggage were seized for further investigation.
As the investigation went on, information emerged that the whole hijacking and robbery drama were allegedly part of an orchestrated plan. What was shocking in this was the allegations that the truck driver is somehow fingered in the whole drama. This has then led to the arrest of the truck driver. At this stage, Police cannot rule out possibilities that similar incidents of this nature could have occurred in the past whereby the arrested suspects were possibly involved however this is subject to further investigations.
The two suspects were charged with the hijacking of the truck and further charges in relation to the whole robbery incident could possibly be added against them. They are expected to appear at the Bushbuckrigde Magistrate’s Court today, 31 August 2023 facing the said charges.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcomed the arrest of the two suspects. The General further commended the excellent work done by the members which unearthed details on the alleged truck driver’s involvement in the whole saga.
Content retrieved from: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=48140.
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