Cape Town – KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube says there have been 107 criminal cases related to the torching of trucks under investigation since 2018.
According to News24, she said the provincial executive received a comprehensive report on the work being done on the ground, including investigations, the deployment of law enforcement, and intelligence gathering.
In just four days, nine trucks were torched in KZN and 10 trucks in other areas.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said that 12 individuals of interest were part of four coordinated groups in KZN and Mpumalanga, and three arrests had been made in Mpumalanga.
Premier Dube-Ncube called for the establishment of special courts to expedite the handling of these cases, emphasizing the need for justice.
“We must establish special courts to deal with some of these. The non-prosecution of these cases and time delays is not good. We want to see justice,” she said.
PREMIER DUBE-NCUBE TO UPDATE CITIZENS ON PERTINENT DEVELOPMENTS FOLLOWING PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING https://t.co/OFMM9y6YZi
— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) July 13, 2023
She described these crimes as economic sabotage and hoped for imminent arrests following the identification of the group of 12.
The provincial executive plans to assemble a special team from the police’s organized crime unit to investigate these cases.
The government will also engage with relevant stakeholders to address challenges facing the trucking industry while ensuring that criminal acts are dealt with and perpetrators are apprehended.
Dube-Ncube stressed that violence is not the solution and encouraged genuine concerns in the trucking sector to be raised through appropriate channels.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
