A brazen fuel-load thief has been caught on video offering cash to a tanker driver in exchange for stealing his diesel and faking a hijacking, a tactic that has quietly circulated in the trucking industry for years.
While this particular incident reportedly took place in the DRC, truckers across South Africa will tell you it is nothing new on our side of the border either.
In the video, the suspect casually approaches a Zambian tanker driver and lays out the whole scam like it is a normal business deal.
He offers K50 000, roughly R37 000, for the driver to hand over his load and disappear for a few months while the syndicate “sorts out the story”. He even explains step-by-step how the fake hijacking would be staged and how the driver should go “underground for three months” until the heat settles.
For drivers who earn modest wages and often feel neglected by their employers, these low-ball offers sometimes sound tempting. But the sting is the real value of the diesel or cargo, which usually runs into hundreds of thousands or even millions of rands.
Syndicates pocket the big money while the driver risks his freedom, job, reputation and, in many cases, his life.
Industry insiders say the root of the problem is a mix of difficult working conditions, strained employer-employee relationships and financial pressure.
Some drivers also feel companies do not take their concerns seriously which makes them vulnerable to criminals promising easy money.
Read | Driver arrested as dashcam reveals he faked his own hijacking
Although most South African drivers refuse these offers, the scam remains a real and under-reported threat in the region.
Transport bosses are urged to tighten vetting, improve communication with drivers and ensure fair working conditions so that syndicates have less room to recruit desperate operators.
Watch the video below:
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