Three attacks on Transnet pipeline in past week

By Michael Appel.Last week, we interviewed BizNews community member Emile de Beer who went to the site of a massive diesel spill near Verkykerskop in the Free State after a Transnet block valve chamber was damaged by criminals. Tens of thousands of litres of diesel poured out of the high-pressure multi-product pipeline into the surrounding farmland, ultimately seeping into the Meul River near Harrismith..De Beer says, to his knowledge, this is the second incident of criminality taking place at the same block valve. He explains criminals arrive with a fuel tanker, jack up the concrete lid of the block valve and insert wooden stents to enable them to connect a pipe to the valve. As it's a highly pressurised pipeline, things often go wrong and this is one such example..[WATCH THE VIDEO TAKEN AT THE SCENE].Transnet Pipelines chief executive, Michelle Phillips, said in a statement their focus over the coming days will be containment and recovery of the product after which rehabilitation will begin. "The emergency response teams are still busy with the recovery and containment of diesel in the Meul River, near Verkykerskop, en route to Warden. The teams have placed preventative booms downstream from the incident site and absorbent booms along the river. The adverse weather conditions are hampering operations but the teams are confident that the strategically placed absorbents and booms will prevent the further spread of diesel.".De Beer, who kindly shared his images with BizNews, pointed out that the environmental damage could be extensive as the Meul River flows into the Wilge River, a tributary of the Vaal River. "Farmers use that water for irrigation. So, everybody has been affected by this. Hopefully, this can be cleared up quickly and efficiently. But I think there is so much diesel that has already gone into the river that you cannot get all of it. It's not nice to see," said De Beer..If this incident wasn't bad enough, in the early hours of Saturday morning last week, three days after criminals hit the pipeline near Harrismith, another attempt to siphon diesel from Transnet's pipeline was detected, this time in KwaZulu-Natal.."Alertness from the tactical response teams prevented theft in progress on the multi-product pipeline between Durban and Heidelberg, in the Mooi River area. While the offenders managed to get away, a fuel tanker and bakkie were impounded. The Hawks and the SAPS are investigating the incident. The swift reaction by the tactical teams averted disruption in the security of supply to the Gauteng market and any potential environmental damage," said Phillips..That the pipeline is continually under siege from criminals is not an overly dramatic notion. As Phillips points out, there have been three attacks on Transnet Pipelines' infrastructure in the past week. "The pipeline is classified as essential infrastructure; therefore, tampering or colluding to tamper is a Schedule 5 offence in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, Act 18 of 2015. The dedicated team from the Hawks, SAPS Crime Intelligence, State Security Agency, the National Prosecuting Authority and local SAPS services will ensure any offender will be charged and prosecuted as per the act," she said..De Beer owns several filling stations in and around Harrismith and explained the problem of syndicates selling diesel below market rates is well known in the industry. Meanwhile, Transnet has appealed to petroleum retailers and the public to "refrain from buying fuel from unregistered traders"..Read also:.Transnet disaster grows – Time to privatise says expert as pillaging hits fuel pipelineFormer Transnet exec Tau Morwe on SA's rail disaster: "Bring back the Railway Police"Eye-watering and systematic looting at Transnet – DA's Ghaleb Cachalia

Three attacks on Transnet pipeline in past week

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