Police pounce on two alleged truck hijackers in Mpumalanga

Two suspects were arrested in Marite, Mpumalanga on Wednesday, in connection with truck jacking incidents on the R40.

Police in Calcutta have successfully managed to trace the alleged masterminds behind a series of truck jackings and robberies in the area.

The duo was charged for seven incidents of armed robberies and appeared in the Mkhuhlu Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

According to Mpumalanga South African Police Service (Saps), some of the charges relate to delivery truck hijackings between November and December.

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The case has been postponed to 27 December for a formal bail application – while the suspects remain in police custody.

Provincial Commissioner of the Saps in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela hailed the breakthrough.

“We observe this development with great excitement because we have been so much concerned with the robberies that were previously committed whereby delivery vehicles were targeted by perpetrators and we hope more arrests will be made,” she said.

“The arrest of the two is a step in the right direction and we commend the handwork made by the members,” she added.

Orchestrated robbery

Meanwhile in August this year, a truck driver and his accomplice were arrested in Bushbuckridge for allegedly planning and staging a hijacking and robbery.

The truck driver was tasked to deliver liquor worth R50 000 to Matibidi Trust, and was intercepted by two armed men enroute.

After driving around, the truck was taken to a bush in Xanthia Trust where the liquor was offloaded.

The driver proceeded to report the matter to the Bushbuckridge Police Station for investigation.

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According to provincial police, further investigations uncovered information that thew hijacking and robbery were part of an orchestrated plan.

The truck driver was also implicated, leading to his arrest.

“Police cannot rule out possibilities that similar incidents of this nature could have occurred in the past, whereby the arrested suspects were possibly involved, however, this is subject to further investigations,” Mpumalanga police said in a statement.