The 35-year-old man whose identity will be revealed after the court proceedings on Thursday, was arrested Hollywood-style on Wednesday 19 October in Pretoria by the Free State Hawks, which led the sting operation and included a multidisciplinary team.

ALSO READ: Free State Hawks arrest alleged diesel theft kingpin

Two suspects, aged between 35 and 41, were arrested on Saturday 16 October 2022 for theft of fuel and tampering with the Transnet national pipeline in Vrede, in the Free State. They were arrested for delivering the stolen fuel in Kromdraai, Witbank.

According to the Hawks’ Philani Nkwalase, the 35-year-old was arrested for alleged involvement in the syndicate linked to the theft of fuel and damage to essential infrastructure, which forms part of a national key point. Almost 8.5 million litres of fuel, valued at approximately R102 million, has been stolen from national Transnet pipes in the past year. 

The alleged kingpin will also later appear in Vrede, in the Phumelela Local Municipality in the Free State, with other suspects. “There are 46 suspects arrested in the past three months, owing to the multi-disciplinary approach operations which prove to have a working formula. Now, with the additional three linked to this incident, we are sitting at a total of 49 suspects arrested in the country,” Nkwalase adds.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) Member of Parliament (MP), Heloise Denner, in March this year told members of Parliament that “during the early hours of Wednesday morning 9 March, unscrupulous thieves stole thousands of litres of diesel from Transnet's multi-fuel pipeline. The thieves caused a spillage of thousands of litres of diesel into the Meul River, which ultimately flows into the Vaal Dam.

ALSO READ: National departments to tackle diesel spillage in Free State river

In 2020, the Hawks in the North West arrested two suspects for the theft of diesel worth approximately R480 000.

ALSO READ: NW suspects arrested for stealing diesel

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