Langa residents quench thirst by looting an alcohol truck during heatwave
A large crowd in Langa took advantage of the scorching heat on Tuesday afternoon by looting an alcohol truck, with temperatures reaching around 38 degrees Celsius in Cape Town.
The incident, which was captured on video and widely shared on social media, showed people frantically grabbing six packs and boxes filled with alcohol as they rushed to the scene.
The video captures a large crowd of people tearing open cardboard boxes and crates to access the alcohol. Many can be seen climbing onto the truck to grab their favourite drinks.
One man is seen standing inside the truck and passing on boxes of alcohol to the people.
A security officer appears on the scene and tries to disperse the crowd by spraying them with pepper spray, but the crowd start throwing alcohol bottles at him, until he eventually left.
A few people ran away from the scene after getting pepper sprayed but make their way back again and start looting the truck again.
Police sirens can be heard in the video, but the police are not captured on the scene.
When Cape Argus sister publication, Daily Voice enquired to police about the incident, police spokesperson Constable Ndakhe Gwala confirmed that they are aware of the incident, but no case has been opened yet.
Gwala reported: “The police are aware of the incident; however, no official report has been made. A detailed statement will be released by this office once the victim(s) have opened a case.”
Just two weeks ago, a stationery South African Breweries (SAB) truck was looted on the corner of Third Avenue and Strandfontein Road in Lotus River.
It is believed that the truck lost control and jack-knifed at the scene.
Crowds gathered and surrounded the truck, looting crates of beer. Some even took off with more than two crates of beer.
When the publication reached out to SAB for comment on this incident, our enquiry was acknowledged, but we never received an official response to our enquiry or follow-ups.
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