Probe into puzzling hijacking and fire

A driver, transporting four boxes for his employer, was accosted in uMhlanga and driven to Tea Estate in Inanda by two armed gunmen on Wednesday January 3.

The men took the four boxes (contents undisclosed) and then set the car alight before fleeing the scene in a white Toyota, that followed them to the estate.

A passer-by noticed the car engulfed in flames on Tea Estate, he immediately called for help.

The driver of the vehicle said he was transporting four boxes for his employer. He said he noticed the car was overheating and stopped in uMhlanga to attend to it, moments before he was approached by the two armed men, accompanied by another two men in a white Toyota.

Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesman, Prem Balram, said reaction officers and Rusa paramedics were called out by a passer-by who noticed a blue Mercedes Benz E200 engulfed in flames on Tea Estate.

The Gauteng registered blue Mercedes Benz was hijacked in uMhlanga Rocks in KwaZulu Natal.

Rusa received the call of a vehicle on fire at 4.06pm. Reaction officers and paramedics arrived on the scene and found the vehicle parked alongside a sugar cane plantation, said Mr Balram.

“Reaction officers interviewed a male found on the scene, who informed them that he was the driver of the car. He added that he was transporting four boxes for his employer and stopped in Zenith Drive, uMhlanga, to top the car with coolant when he realised the vehicle was overheating.

“At that stage he was accosted by two gunmen who forced him into the rear seat at gunpoint and drove to Inanda. A second group of suspects followed him in a white Toyota (model unconfirmed).

“When they arrived at Tea Estate the driver was let out of the vehicle. The four boxes were loaded into the suspects’ light motor vehicle. The victim/driver said the contents of the boxes were not disclosed to him. The perpetrators then set the Mercedes Benz alight and fled. It could not be confirmed if an accelerant was used,” said Mr Balram.