Heidelberg Weighbridge

Chief Mashaba was Acting DD in 2021, second in charge of Sedibeng district, overseeing three or four offices including Ratanda, Heidelberg Weighbridge, Heidelberg region, and Vereeniging region, responsible for monitoring performance, attending complaints and holding meetings.

“in 2021 , the Acting DD that I was , I was in charge of , I was second in charge of the district , Sedibeng , heading three , four , yes , four offices . That is Ratanda , that is Heidelberg Weighbridge . That was , that is Heidelberg region . Vereeniging region . Meaning the four , the three , the four were reporting to me , I would go and inspect the offices . I will go and attend meetings in the district with the police , the district office in Vereeniging and come back and brief the Heads of , of the offices that is Vereeniging , Heidelberg , Heidelberg Weighbridge and , well , Ratanda is just a satellite small station because it is , it is small . So our duty , my duty is to monitor the performance of the offices , the three offices , to attend to complaints of the members , to hold meetings with the offices and address challenges there of .”

Chief Mashaba states he would have known if the truck carrying drugs had passed the Heidelberg Weighbridge because it would have been overloaded and would not be allowed to pass unnoticed; he also concedes he is not personally responsible for following or ensuring compliance on the roads.

“If it would have passed the weighbridge, I would have known because it was going to be overloaded, it was not going to pass...”

Advocate Segeels-Ncube challenges Chief Mashaba that since he is in charge of the Heidelberg Weighbridge and was given details of the truck including license plate and driver, he had the opportunity and resources to stop, inspect, and verify the truck but missed this opportunity allegedly intentionally to allow the truck to pass out of his district.

“You are in charge of the Heidelberg Weighbridge ... You could have asked your members to stop that vehicle at the weighbridge... but you missed that opportunity intentionally so that it can go to Johannesburg which is out of your district. Why would you do that?”

ADV Segels-Ncube accuses Chief Mashaba of not asking for the detailed information to activate the team to monitor the truck at the Heidelberg Weighbridge on Thursday night, even though he could have.

“You could have asked him for the details of the truck to get more information from him, correct? You could have. ... If you had gotten the information which you say you did not have, the details of the truck, the license plate, if you had elicited that information from him the Thursday night, you could have activated the team at the Heidelberg Weighbridge to be on the lookout for that truck, correct?”

Chief Mashaba admits he could have asked for truck details on Thursday night but says he did not think it appropriate to instruct his team based on sensitive info.

“I could have. ... No, you do not just say that. If I am saying, look out, be on the lookout for this truck, what is it doing, how about this truck? Look out for? ... Hence I am saying, it depends. I was not going to do it.”