Pretoria - Drama unfolded at a farm outside the city on Tuesday when a farmer who was caught red-handed receiving stolen city council diesel chased police with a bulldozer and threatened to set his lions on them.
The farmer only calmed down after police, who initially ran for dear life, threatened to gun down the animals if he let them loose.
It all started when a City of Tshwane employee was arrested at the farm in Bultfontein, north of the city, where he was caught delivering diesel worth R77 000, belonging to the municipality.
The man is the 10th municipal employee to be arrested in a week for stealing fuel from the City of Tshwane.
The employee, who works at a depot of the roads and stormwater department in Soshanguve, gave up quickly when he was arrested and co-operated with police. But the farmer, in a twist of events, tried to set his lions on the arresting officers.
“He said if we do not leave him alone, he’d set his lions on us,” said Dorothy Mmushi, head of the City of Tshwane’s investigations unit, adding that the farmer also owned hyenas and wild dogs.
An officer of the investigations department followed the municipal employee after suspicions arose over extremely high fuel usage within the municipality.
The employee filled a tank with 3 500 litres of diesel at the depot and drove to the farm.
Investigators witnessed him enter the farm and saw him leave half an hour later to refill the tank with another 3 500 litres of diesel at a municipal depot in Akasia.
Again he returned to the farm and came out half an hour later.
“As he got out to close the gate we confronted and arrested him,” said the investigating officer, who for security reasons cannot be named.
When the officers entered the smallholding, they found a trailer with a large tank full of diesel on it.
The owner of the farm, who is known to the Pretoria News but cannot be identified until he appears in court, chased the officers from his property with a bulldozer.
“We called the Tshwane metro police and the SAPS in to help us. When they arrived we re-entered the property, but the trailer with the tank was gone,” the investigator said.
It is yet to be found.
Mmushi said it was improbable that the farmer was unaware that he was buying stolen fuel.
“The truck is labelled as property of the City of Tshwane and the farmer was paying a fraction of the normal fuel price,” she said.
It is alleged the employee charged the farmer R120 for 25 litres of diesel.
“This is half of what the normal selling price for diesel is,” she said.
The farmer refused to talk to or co-operate with the police.
“He tried to force the police vehicles off his property with a bulldozer,” said Mmushi.
When he failed to remove the officers, he threatened to let his lions loose on them.
“It is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life,” said Mmushi.
Police officers ran for dear life when the farmer tried to set the lions free, she said.
A member of the Hammans-kraal SAPS managed to calm the farmer down and persuade him to co-operate, explaining to him that the police would shoot the animals if they were set loose.
The farmer and the employee, a 42-year old man, were arrested.
They face charges of possession of stolen property and theft.
When he was caught, the employee admitted guilt.
It is expected the pair will appear in court soon.
It could not be confirmed whether the lions, hyenas and wild dogs were kept on the farm legally.
“We are concerned and we will look into the legality of the animals,” Mmushi said.
The investigation into the sky-high use of fuel within the municipality has been going on for the past three weeks and, according to Mmushi, more arrests are imminent.
Mmushi said fuel usage within the municipality was high and an audit revealed overspending on petrol and diesel.
“The only way to apprehend suspects is to catch them red-handed,” Mmushi said.
Last week, seven municipal workers from the agriculture and environmental depot in Centurion were also arrested for fuel theft.
It is believed they supplied fuel to a syndicate.
In a separate operation last week, two Emergency Services employees were also arrested for fuel theft, making Tuesday’s suspect the 10th council employee to be arrested within a week.
Mmushi encouraged the public to report suspicious activity to the investigations unit.
“When people see municipal trucks off-loading fuel at private properties, they should call our corruption line,” she said.
City residents can call 080 874 9263 (080 tshwane) to report suspicious activity.
Pretoria News