SowetanLive reports that a gang of hijackers was arrested on Monday night after allegedly killing a truck driver during a hijacking on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth. The suspects apparently targeted copper estimated to be worth R2m that was being transported from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg.
The body of 53-year-old truck driver Absalom Mnisi was found on Tuesday morning alongside the N2 near the Coega industrial development zone where the hijacking took place. The alarm was raised when a passerby alerted the company, Esar Transport. The former employee of the company happened to be driving past at the time of the hijacking and saw the group of men wearing reflective vests, and blue lights fitted to a white vehicle, fighting with the driver. The five hijackers were caught in possession of the truck in Perseverance behind an abandoned warehouse. The arrests have raised concerns over the sophistication of hijacking networks because a portable network signal-jamming device was plugged into the lighter socket of the truck in what appeared to be a failed attempt to scramble the tracking device and cellphone signals. Authorities have now launched a probe to ascertain if the same group is responsible for another hijacking of a truck, also on the N2, two weeks ago as well as several others last year.
- Read the full original of Gareth Wilson’s report on the above story at SowetanLive
- Read too, Truck driver killed during hijacking in Coega, at SAPS News (press statement)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page