News / Regional
Police officers deal in illegal fuel
29 Mar 2016 at 07:10hrs | Views
THE deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Obedingwa Mguni, has said police in Plumtree and officials stationed at the town's border are engaged in an illegal fuel selling scam which he said his Ministry would soon bring to a halt.
This comes after operators of service stations in the border town complained that they were losing customers to illegal fuel operators that have taken over the fuel industry in the town.
Mguni said police and border officials were facilitating the smuggling of petrol from Botswana to Plumtree through the Plumtree Border Post.
He said they supplied the fuel to illegal operators who were selling the fuel from their houses and streets.
"I'm really concerned by what is happening within a portion of land between the Plumtree Border Post and Ramokgwebana Border Post known as No man's land. It has come to my attention that police and border officials are illegally facilitating the exchange of fuel within that area," Mguni said.
He said while some of the fuel was being smuggled through illegal crossing points along the border line, the bulk of the petrol was transported through the border.
Mguni said investigations were in progress to deal with corrupt law enforcement agents once and for all.
"It's a pity that the government is trying to fight corruption but law enforcement agents are the major culprits. We need to weed out the corrupt officials.
"Service station operators are remitting taxes to the government and they're paying levies to council and other government departments. They need to be protected and have to record good business in order to sustain their operations," he said.
Mguni also lamented the fact that the illegal fuel operators were conducting their activities under the noses of the Environment Management Authority (EMA).
A senior official at Total Garage said: "The town of Plumtree has a number of taxis, kombis and Granvias but all these public service vehicles are not coming to our garages. We used to record petrol sales of more than 1,000 litres a day but as of now we're recording an average of 200 litres in a day.
"At this rate we might lose our jobs as our operations might close or our salaries could be reduced because we're hardly making money anymore".
The official said the activities of illegal fuel dealers heightened in January this year.
He said they had approached EMA officials and police over the issue without luck.
Some motorists have resorted to buying fuel from illegal points as the charges are low compared to those of fuel stations. Illegal fuel operators found in the town now sell their petrol at $1 per litre from their houses, opposed to the official pump price of about $1,23 per litre.
This comes after operators of service stations in the border town complained that they were losing customers to illegal fuel operators that have taken over the fuel industry in the town.
Mguni said police and border officials were facilitating the smuggling of petrol from Botswana to Plumtree through the Plumtree Border Post.
He said they supplied the fuel to illegal operators who were selling the fuel from their houses and streets.
"I'm really concerned by what is happening within a portion of land between the Plumtree Border Post and Ramokgwebana Border Post known as No man's land. It has come to my attention that police and border officials are illegally facilitating the exchange of fuel within that area," Mguni said.
He said while some of the fuel was being smuggled through illegal crossing points along the border line, the bulk of the petrol was transported through the border.
Mguni said investigations were in progress to deal with corrupt law enforcement agents once and for all.
"Service station operators are remitting taxes to the government and they're paying levies to council and other government departments. They need to be protected and have to record good business in order to sustain their operations," he said.
Mguni also lamented the fact that the illegal fuel operators were conducting their activities under the noses of the Environment Management Authority (EMA).
A senior official at Total Garage said: "The town of Plumtree has a number of taxis, kombis and Granvias but all these public service vehicles are not coming to our garages. We used to record petrol sales of more than 1,000 litres a day but as of now we're recording an average of 200 litres in a day.
"At this rate we might lose our jobs as our operations might close or our salaries could be reduced because we're hardly making money anymore".
The official said the activities of illegal fuel dealers heightened in January this year.
He said they had approached EMA officials and police over the issue without luck.
Some motorists have resorted to buying fuel from illegal points as the charges are low compared to those of fuel stations. Illegal fuel operators found in the town now sell their petrol at $1 per litre from their houses, opposed to the official pump price of about $1,23 per litre.
Source - chronicle
