A group of “brazen” skelms from Strandfontein are capitalising on load shedding by stealing and reselling gas tanks.
Videos of the alleged thieves went viral on chat groups over the weekend as crime-fighters went on a hunt for the opportunistic diewe, believed to have also broken into two cars.
The footage taken from a home in Sardyn Street has caused quite a ding. Fortunately, the Community Police Forum (CPF) helped recover a stolen tank within hours.
Chairperson Sandy Schuter said the CPF acted vinnig.
“The video came through on Sunday and showed that this brazen skelm just enters the yard of a home in Sardyn Street and then detaches the gas tank.
“In the video you can see him first sneaking around and even looking directly into the camera.
“After the video was circulated on one of the chat groups, I sent it to the CPF groups and one of our members found the tank.”
Schuter added that the crime-fighter found the tank at a dwelling in the 7de Laan informal settlement and questioned the person in possession.
“He was too scared to say where he bought it but said he had no idea it was stolen. He said he needed one and the person came selling it, so he bought it because everyone is being hit hard by the load shedding and not everyone can afford gas.
“It seems the skelms have noticed the gap in the market and are now targeting items they can sell quickly, thanks to load shedding,” Schuter explained.
“The owner was contacted and after he got his gas tank back, he did not want to open a case.”
She said additional footage from the surrounding streets showed the skelm was not operating alone and others also took ‘n kans to break into vehicles.
“You can see by the clothing at the car break-ins that it’s the same person. In these two cases, they were reported to the police and everyone is looking for them.
“We recently had an application for two second-hand dealers in Strandfontein, and this is why we opposed it, because of the market it creates,” Schuter added.
“We also urge mense to not buy things like gas tanks from someone who comes knocking at your door. We know that everyone is sukkeling in load shedding but this fuels the crime.”