Hijackers step on gas

30 July 2015 - 02:02 By Shanaaz Eggington

Gas shortages have created a new contraband for criminals. A truck transporting thousands of rands worth of gas was hijacked in Driftsands, Mfuleni in the Western Cape.The truck was carrying filled gas cylinders worth R150 000 belonging to Khaya Gas.George Tathan, the managing director of Khaya Gas, said it was the 15th armed robbery on their trucks this year."We have a huge problem in the industry. The robbers have heavy firepower, like AK-47s, and they are very aggressive and professional," he said."The situation is so bad that we have to train our staff how to act when they are held up, so that we minimise the violence to our drivers and offloading crew."The robbers are now starting to joke about how they like robbing Khaya staff because they 'know how to behave'."We stopped collecting cash from our clients some time ago and thought that the robberies would stop, but they didn't."Tuesday's robbery occurred at 2.30pm as they were offloading gas at Mandalay Gas.Tathan said: "Some armed men approached my guys and they were herded into a nearby container and locked in."Tathan said they have appointed private investigators to help in the hunt for the robbers.Charl Kruger, from EasiGas, said: "We've lost a lot of cylinders to thieves. But we have managed to rein that in. Criminals unfortunately are quick to spot a gap to make an easy buck."He said the gas shortages in the Western Cape were mainly due to the planned mandatory maintenance shutdown at the Chevron refinery in Milnerton."EasiGas [also] ran out of cylinders. [But] that has also been sorted out," he said...

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