Lessons from Boksburg blast not heeded

Hardly two weeks after the tragedy of the gas tanker explosion that claimed the lives of 37 people in Boksburg, a diesel tanker overturned in Germiston yesterday morning during rush hour.

Fortunately, this time no lives were lost, as firefighters from the Wadeville fire station, which is about 1km from the accident scene, responded swiftly.

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On their arrival, however, they found people were already scooping out diesel – a very expensive commodity in this country – after the tanker jackknifed, resulting in a leakage.

The tanker was carrying 30 000l of fuel and if emergency personnel had wasted time – as they are wont to do – something tragic could have happened.

It is not surprising that fuel was being stolen, as people will do anything to get things for free, as seen in last year’s looting spree in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng – but we would have thought this time around people would stay as far away as possible from a vehicle carrying such highly flammable cargo.

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The Christmas Boksburg explosion is still fresh in our minds. It begs the question: does stealing show how desperate people are nowadays, or does it merely confirm just how stupid people really are.