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GOVT EMPLOYEE NABBED FOR FUEL THEFT, GETS BAIL

By Bongumusa Simelane | 2024-11-26

AN employee of the ministry of agriculture was nabbed selling stolen fuel at Buhleni depot over the weekend.

Bongani Dlamini, who is stationed at Buhleni depot, is alleged to have been stealing fuel and selling it to residents and motorists in Buhleni and surrounding areas.

Buhleni police were tipped about the fuel theft and they launched an investigation, which led to the arrest of Dlamini.

He is alleged to have been found driving a car loaded with a 900 litres drum full of fuel and some containers.

The car allegedly belongs to a resident who he found on his way to one of the filling stations to buy fuel.

The accused is alleged to have asked the resident to sell him fuel at a lower cost. The residents allegedly agreed. It is alleged that every time the fuel was refilled at the depot, the accused would call his ‘customers’ and notify them that there was fuel and they would come to buy.

This allegedly led to the local filling stations in Buhleni being pushed out of business and they started complaining about the depot that was selling government fuel to the members of the public.

Dlamini appeared before Pigg’s Peak Magistrate Siphosini Dlamini where he was charged with fuel theft. The accused was represented by lawyer Sabelo ‘Chicken’ Dlamini.

According to the charge sheet, the accused is alleged to have stolen over 1 000 litres of fuel valued at over E20 900.

The accused is said to have been charging at least E300 for every 25 litres of fuel sold to the members of the public.

It is alleged that sometimes motorists would come with their vehicles to refill or sometimes bring the containers. The depot is managed by the ministry of agriculture. The fuel was for the tractors and graders that work in the land development.

It is alleged that the theft of the fuel had been ongoing for two years now.
The Crown applied that the accused be remanded into custody until December 4, pending setting of his trial date.

However, his lawyer requested the court to release him on bail. He said his client deserved to be granted reasonable bail considering the fact that he did not to earn much.

He said he conceded that theft was a serious offence but pleaded with the court not to invoke section 102 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act when granting the accused bail.
Section 102 of the Act stipulates that any person charged with theft where the value of the stolen property is over E2 000, that person should be granted bail fixed at half the amount of the stolen property.

However, the Crown opposed the request by the lawyer and argued that the court should invoke Section 102 of the said Act as this was a serious offence. ‘Chicken’ argued that his client would not afford bail if it would be fixed as per the Act.

The court then granted the accused bail fixed at E10 000. The car and the fuel found were detained at the Pigg’s police station.

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