Motorists steal petrol
Most would agree that the current petrol price is a bit of a rip-off — now some motorists are repaying the favour by stealing fuel.
A KwaZulu-Natal pump attendant was injured when a motorist ran over him while speeding away from an Empangeni petrol station without paying on Tuesday evening.
Peter Morgan, the chief executive of the Fuel Retailers’ Association, said the incident was not isolated.
“There have been about 10 similar incidents over the past month,” he said.
“Every motorist is feeling the same pain. It is not isolated to one province. As soon as fuel prices increase, motorists fill up and speed off.
“People are doing this because they have no choice, and we as an industry cannot stop motorists and ask them how they are going to pay for it.”
A paramedic called to the scene of Tuesday evening’s hit-and-run, told The Times: “The attendant told us that the driver sped off and he then fell onto the bonnet but the man just kept going, and he was hit by the car.”
A source told The Times it was suspected that the vehicle had been stolen.
He said: “It seems like the person stole the vehicle and needed petrol. Petrol stations in the area said that this is the first case that they had heard about where someone didn’t pay for petrol.”
Provincial police spokesman Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu was surprised to hear about the new crime trend.
“I have not heard of a case like this before,” he said.
Peter Noke, a spokesman for the South African Petrol Retailers’ Association, said most transactions at petrol stations were done on the basis of good faith and that the Empangeni incident was worrying.
Some petrol stations are equipped with pumps that can be activated only after the requested amount of fuel has been paid for.
Noke said: “Not all stations have them though, and if they do, that function is not permanently activated.”
Herman Thom, a spokesman for the Small Business Advisory Bureau at Potchefstroom University, estimated that retailers would have to sell 20 litres of fuel to make up for every litre stolen in this manner.
“If a retailer was targeted regularly it would definitely show,” he said.
Source: The Time
Tags: crime, fuel costs, fuel thieves, South Africa