Transnet

Soaring fuel prices have drawn attention to the millions of litres South Africa loses each year to heavily armed gangs of petrol thieves who terrorise farm ...

In one case, the holes were hidden in the floor of a farm worker’s shack. There is no easy solution - not until the "kingpins" are arrested. When I went to the truck to speak to the driver, there was lots of cash next to him as well," said the farm worker. The largest proportion of theft experienced by us remains cable theft," Majozi added. Transnet, facing multiple crises across its railway and harbour infrastructure, is poorly placed to deal with the pipeline theft. Checking the number plates, we traced three of the trucks to a South African man whose credit record shows he worked for a Zimbabwean logistics company, but the company's chief executive said he had no knowledge of the man and they had no fuel trucks operating in South Africa. The biggest risk to them is fire or explosion. They have detailed knowledge: diesel, the fuel which seems to interest them most, is only pumped at certain times. "It was after midnight and I heard commotion outside and I saw trucks lining up close to the Transnet valves. Also, how do the thieves time the exact dates and times of when fuel will be flowing through the pipelines … something doesn't add up". Also, in small towns people know each other very well so as the Hawks we assure them of their anonymity," he added. - Fuel theft not only costs the country millions, it also causes massive environmental damage to agriculture and rivers.