WHEN Diepkloof hostel dwellers in Soweto looted a truck full of rice and eggs last week, they thought they had hit a jackpot.
They also took something that looked like polony, but little did they know they were looting explosives.
During a protest of poor service delivery on Wednesday, 14 June, some hostel dwellers saw an opportunity to loot trucks. They looted a truck full of explosives, thinking it was polony, and then looted a second truck which carried eggs and rice.
The residents had embarked on a service delivery protest where they blockaded the N1 Highway and Chris Hani Road in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This was the second time they looted trucks in a space of two weeks. During their first protest, residents looted a truck of milk.
The hostel chairman, Sibongiseni Khoza, told Daily Sun that he was disappointed that some of the residents were using the protest as an excuse to loot.
"We are going to call a meeting and address this issue of stealing during a protest. We are protesting for service delivery. We don't encourage people to steal," said Sibongiseni.
"A truck was passing by during the protest and some residents blocked the truck and took explosives in boxes thinking its polony. This is caused by hunger. I believe they were hungry and thought they had found food," he said.
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Sibongiseni told Daily Sun the community leaders worked with the police to recover the stolen goods.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela has commended law enforcement agencies that responded swiftly to recover the explosives that were looted during the service delivery protest in Soweto.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said that members of SAPS and Joburg Metro Police Department, Public Order Police, National Intervention Unit, Tactical Response Team, K-9, Local Criminal Record Centre, Bomb-Disposal, District Visible Policing, and Airwing responded swiftly to recover the looted goods, especially the explosives due to the danger that they posed to the residents.
"A search was conducted at the hostel, with the help of community leaders. The provincial commissioner has appreciated the working relationship that the SAPS continues to have with izinduna and all community structures in the fight against crime," said Masondo.
The police have opened a case of public violence and no arrests have been made yet.
Anyone with information on crime and criminal activities is urged to anonymously contact CrimeStop number 08600 10111 or to send top offs on MySAPS application.
