The police in have expressed disappointment at the behaviour of some residents of Marite, Mpumalanga, who looted a dairy truck while the driver laid dead behind the steering wheel and his crew members were badly injured. The incident happened on the R40 Road in Marite, outside Hazeyview.d

EMBARRASSING 

SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala described the incident as heartbreaking, inhumane and embarrassing. Mohlala said some community members looted dairy products that were inside the truck, while the body of the murdered 45-year-old truck driver was motionless behind the steering wheel. "The driver as well as two of his crew members were driving along the R40 Road in a truck, heading towards Bushbuckridge for a delivery an as they were passing through Marite, next to a certain filling station, it is alleged that approximately four to five armed suspects emerged from the roadside with firearms," he said. Mohlala said the suspects tried to stop the truck by standing in the road. The driver attempted to make a u-turn which then caused an accident because he bumped into another vehicle. "Further information indicates that the suspects began firing shots towards the truck. Unfortunately, the driver was hit by bullets and the truck came to a halt after bumping into a tree after losing control. The other two crew members are lucky to be alive after sustaining some slight injuries, "he said.

NO HELP

Mohlala said after the suspects fled the scene, community members came to loot the truck. "It was during this difficult moment that victims needed urgent help but some members of the public are said to have helped themselves with items from the truck instead of assisting those were in need. Police as well as paramedics were summoned to the scene and upon arrival, the driver was unfortunately certified dead. He has since been identified as Mr Petros Jay Magagula from Matsulu," he said. A case was opened with a count of murder and robbery. Mohlala said a team of investigators have already been assembled under the leadership of the provincial commissioner of the SA Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela to probe this incident. "No one has been arrested in relation to the brutal incident so far," he said.