A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) driver was one of two people arrested and who appeared in the Melmoth Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday on theft charges and released on R1 000 bail.
Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the matter was postponed until 6 March, and that police were investigating charges of theft from a vehicle, robbery and looting after a refrigerated truck carrying meat was looted on 19 January, after breaking down on the R66 in Ndundulu in Melmoth.
She said that a group of people, armed with a knife and a four-pound hammer, had appeared and forced open the truck’s padlock, taking out meat and loading it into their vehicles, reports IOL. Two of them were arrested and charged, and their vehicles were also seized for further investigation.
MSF says its own preliminary investigation has revealed that some of the stolen meat had been dumped in the back of its branded vehicles by the looters, who tried to pressure the MSF driver into helping them to flee with the bounty
MSF says the employee refused to drive off with the meat.
In the video clip, people are seen grabbing meat from the vehicle. The clip is filmed by the truck owner who can be heard shouting at the looters. He also asked the MSF employee why he was at the scene, and why there was meat in the back of his vehicle.
In a statement, MSF said: “An on-duty MSF staff member driving a marked vehicle was delivering medical supplies in the area at the time. He has reported the incident to MSF managers in Eshowe, who are co-operating with the owners of the meat truck and the SAPS.”
MSF regional operational support manager in Southern Africa Philip Aruna said the organisation was very concerned about the incident and the impact it might have on MSF’s relationships with communities in KZN as well as its supporters, nationally and globally.
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