Hijackers run riot on Highveld
2006-08-24 18:31
Nkosana ka Makaula
Nelspruit - Trucks, bakkies and panel vans have been hijacked on the Mpumalanga Highveld in the past two days.
Four of the hijackings took place on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Seabe Seanego, 46, pulled off the road between Ogies and Kriel to urinate, only for two gunmen to force him back into the panel van and make him drive towards Kriel.
"Just outside the town they ordered him to stop, tied his hands and feet, and left him by the roadside," said inspector Thabiso Ngcongwane of Eastern Highveld police on Thursday.
They drove off in the panel van, which was full of vehicle parts. It has not been recovered.
That afternoon, truck driver George Ntuli was forced off the N17 highway on the way to Springs by gunmen in an Audi and BMW.
The four men took his cellphone and R170 in cash before driving away in the truck and leaving him unharmed at the roadside. The truck was empty and hasn't been recovered.
Nine chainsaws stolen
About 17:40 on Tuesday, three hijackers hijacked Manuelo Macamo, 28, of his bakkie and trailer near Amsterdam.
The bakkie was loaded with nine chainsaws and was fitted with a tracking device.
Police found it in a plantation, without the chainsaws.
That night, security guard Abednigo Gxaki, 50, was held up by four gunmen who demanded the keys to the tyre dealership he was guarding in Trichardt.
They forced him to take them to the manager, who was asleep in a caravan on the premises, and tied up both men with ropes and their belts.
They loaded a truck from the dealership with 20 truck tyres worth R200 000 and drove off. The truck and tyres have not been recovered.
Stole cellphone, R380
On Monday night, fuel tanker driver Thembinkosi Sibisi, 26, was hijacked by three male hitchhikers, but the truck ran out of petrol in Balfour.
They took his driver's licence, cellphone and R380 in cash before fleeing on foot.
Ngcongwane said no arrests had been made.
- African Eye