Police Minister Bheki Cele has dismissed any connection between the recent burning of trucks and the July 2021 riots, boldly claiming there would be no repeat of the 2011 mayhem in which over 350 people lost their lives.
Cele condemned the torching of over 21 trucks in KZN, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and said police were hot on the heels of at least 12 persons of interest.
His spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, explained on Talk Radio 702, that the 12 persons of interest were wanted for questions and were not necessarily suspects at the moment.
Cele said the 12 persons of interested had been identified by name, address and the cars they drive.
“While this week marks two years since we saw mass looting, acts of arson and wanton destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng province, where 354 people lost their lives as a result of the mayhem.
“As things stand, there is no evidence before us to suggest that the recent target on trucks are in any way related or linked to the July insurrection,” said Cele.
Cele said he was confident with intelligence from the police, military and state security, that there would be no repeat of the July 2021 unrest arising from the torching of trucks.
In 2021, the July riots were sparked by the torching of several trucks on the N3 highway corridor before widespread looting and destruction of infrastructure followed.
Cele said the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (Nicoc), which consists of the heads of intelligence structures from the SAPS, SSA, SANDF and FIC, had seen an improvement in intelligence and had allegedly managed to foil possible truck burning incidences in the Gauteng province.
“That is why we can proudly say there will be no repeat of 2021 riots, indeed there are these remnants as you see the trucks (burning) and all that,” said Cele.
He added: “If we did not learn from our previous experiences, Gauteng would also be like the other provinces. We don't have evidence that this is linked to July riots. The evidence that we have is that there has been a call for people fighting the issue of foreign drivers. “The evidence we have is that there is a division among the people in the structure of the trucks. The evidence we have is that this thing is coordinated on the economic sabotage and people fighting on wars of economic and their issues,” said Cele.
Cele said those who linked the truck attacks to the July riots were opportunists and some of them wanted to score easy victories.
He said it was also possible that the truck burning was a possible turf war in the coal industry.
Some of the trucks burnt were transporting coal and chrome, while others were transporting general goods.
“There will be people who want to claim easy victories, we are aware of the people trying to link this to the July (riots).
“What we see is that the attacks are in the east part of the country on the coal line, that it could be economic wars linked to tenders,” said Cele.
Earlier, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said trucks in transit on Gauteng roads were being monitored constantly to safeguard them from possibly being torched by arsonists who have been on a fiery rampage since Sunday morning.
Lesufi took to Twitter to say Gauteng was using hi-tech technology and cameras to monitor all strategic roads used by trucks entering or leaving the province.
He congratulated Gauteng law enforcement authorities for their work thus far.
“We are using our hi-tech technology to monitor all strategic roads used by trucks entering or leaving Gauteng.
“Well done to our law enforcement agencies for implementing the vision. A better, safer Gauteng will emerge,” he said.
IOL