Truck drivers are turning themselves into sitting ducks when they pull over next to the highway at night to sleep, especially near the N4 Middelburg toll plaza since robbers see the collection of parked trucks as an easy pay day.
Another truck driver was apparently robbed recently on February 19 when he stopped for the night near the toll plaza. At about 03:30 in the morning he apparently heard a suspect breaking the window of the truck when he jumped up there were apparently three unknown men armed with knives. They assaulted him and threatened the victim to give them his bank card pin after taking his card and cell phone. A case of armed robbery has been opened at the Witbank SAPS.
This is just the most recent in a long list of very similar incidents. Last year in August an incident occurred where robbers stole the bank card and pin from a truck driver that stopped to sleep near the toll plaza. In April three robberies involving trucks occurred, one of which occurred near the toll plaza again.
The story the WITBANK NEWS did state,
“On April 23 another truck driver was resting in his cabin at the toll plaza when he felt the truck shaking. He checked his mirror and noticed someone tossing boxes, he hooted in attempt to wake the other drivers. When he opened the doors a man pointed a firearm at him and told him to move into the open field where he was bound, the robber then took his bankcard and threatened to shoot him, asking for the pin.”
According to Solange Soares-Necholson a spokesperson for TRAC, trucks are legally not supposed to be parked next to the side of the road on any road considering a truck can be hijacked anywhere in South Africa. TRAC does try to be pro active and warn drivers and truck drivers not to stop next to the road yet it seems these warnings fall on deaf ears as each night trucks settle in for the night just in front of the plaza even though less than a kilometre away is a full service station and ample parking for trucks.
“Truck drivers making use of the N4 and N12, should be cautious as there is a group of suspects operating in the surrounding areas, especially at night. Drivers should be weary of suspects wandering about their vehicles and should report them to the authorities and the toll plaza personnel,” said Capt Eddie Hall, police communications officer weighing in on the incidents.
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