A director of coal transportation company says they learnt with shock that one of the employees is allegedly behind the attack on a truck belonging to their subcontractor.
SG Coal, a coal transportation company, confirmed yesterday that their driver, Nelson Shongwe, who was caught on dashcam video hijacking a truck and later setting it alight, was among the five men who appeared in the Ermelo magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga yesterday.
Shongwe appeared alongside Sibusiso Mthethwa, Fundile Mpondo, Mafika Sibane and Nkosingiphile Gumede – who have all been linked to the recent spate of truck burnings. Their case was postponed to next week.
The five are accused of conspiracy to commit malicious damage to property, robbery with aggravating circumstances and attempted murder.
Speaking to Sowetan, the SG Coal director, Peter Mountford, said Shongwe was identified by Anti-Crime Security Unit, a private company contracted by the subcontractor which apprehended him.
Mountford said Shongwe was off duty at the time of the attack.
“We are shocked. We don’t employ any foreign nationals and we don’t know what motivated Mr Shongwe or the people he was aligned with. He doesn’t have a bad track record with our company and we have never experienced any issues with our workers in the past because we don’t have foreigners in our employ.
“The prosecution process is currently underway and there will be a similar process from our side and obviously he (Shongwe) will be dismissed. As far as we know he was the only SG Coal employee out of the five men who have been arrested,” said Mountford.
The subcontractor, who asked not to be named, told Sowetan yesterday that his driver who was allegedly accosted by Shongwe was still traumatised after the incident and wasn’t not keen to go back to work.
He said the driver was on his way to drop off coal in Richard’s Bay when he suddenly saw two burning trucks on the N2 between Piet Retief and Ermelo, about 45km from his work.
The subcontractor said his driver assumed that a vehicle accident had taken place and proceeded to drive slowly. The dashcam from the truck’s cabin shows the driver stopping his vehicle and then talking to a person who had stopped him through the window.
“The man pointed what looked like a firearm to the driver and told him to get out or he will will suffer the consequences. The driver opened the door and goes out while the attacker, who is wearing a hoodie, took the wheel and then torched the cabin using a flammable [liquid],” said the subcontractor.
“He (the driver) ran away because he was scared. He also lost his wallet, drivers’ licence, banking cards, and professional drivers’ permit,” the employer said.
He added that the driver had been working for him for over a year. The subcontractor also said the incident has had a huge impact on his business which is now experiencing loss of income.
His truck and trailer were worth R3.2m and now he would have to fork out about R500,000 in insurance excess fee.
“I think the big thing is that these guys are saying they don’t want foreign drivers because foreign drivers are taking their jobs but if I am not mistaken, all the trucks that were burnt not one of the drivers are foreign drivers,” the businessman said.
So far, 21 trucks have been torched in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng in what has been described as coordinated attacks.
Last Wednesday, police minister Bheki Cele announced that 12 people of interest have been identified through investigation and intelligence collection with most of them located in the northern KZN area.
Cele said evidence pointed to “organised coordinated and sophisticated operations that seek to undermine and sabotage the state”.
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