A turf battle between two warring fuel suppliers in Mpumalanga – Rhino Fuels and Maybach Oil and Gas – has seen the police accused of taking sides and not mediating even-handedly in the commercial feud involving Mbombela businessmen.
A court has also ordered one of the businessmen to stop harassing and intimidating his rival.
Rhino Fuels is run by Reyno Kruger, of Mbombela, while Maybach Oil and Gas, also located in the city, is the brainchild of Ntando Mhlongo.
Mhlongo has accused the rival company of operating a petroleum wholesale business without a licence and charging low prices, which impact negatively on his business.
According to court documents Sunday World has seen, testimony was led before Mbombela high court acting judge JL Bhengu in which Kruger said Mhlongo threatened him with violence should he not adhere to his demands.
Two days after the meeting in January, Mhlongo allegedly dispatched three vehicles without number plates to a Rhino Fuels depot, threatening employees with violence, and warning them to close the depot, the court papers stated.
When Rhino Fuels’ staff called the local police station for assistance, they were rebuffed and told the police required a court order to intervene. Kruger proceeded to open a case of intimidation against Mhlongo.
Mhlongo did not take kindly to the case being opened by Kruger and allegedly sent a threatening WhatsApp message to Kruger. One of the messages read: “You are making a very big mistake.
I will show you; you called the police? I’m with the police now. Let’s see what’s going to happen,” the court document stated.
In another text, Mhlongo charged: “You are buying smuggled fuel; you are killing my market and you’re operating without a wholesale licence, and you don’t even have the environment impact assessment document.
You are stifling the market around for everyone. Trust me, if you think I’m playing games, you’re going to regret it. Believe me, I don’t lose.”
Following these exchanges, people believed to be connected to Maybach again gained access to Rhino Fuel’s premises by driving through a boom gate. However, they were this time accompanied by police, said the document.
In his testimony, Mhlongo argued that there was no intention to threaten Kruger and his employees. “The SAPS and I reported to the applicants’ premises. The SAPS spoke to the applicant’s employees and requested to speak to their boss.
I then received a call from the deponent, and he asked me that I should not involve the police as we can resolve this matter amicably…
He proposed that we should meet on the 29th of January 2024. However, when he did not show up on the 29th of January 2024, I then sent a WhatsApp message complaining of his conduct. On 30 January 2024, I decided to go look for him at his premises together with the SAPS.”
In his judgment, judge JL Bhengu warned Mhlongo against harassing Kruger and his employees.
“The respondents (Maybach Oil and Gas) further argued that each time that they attended to the applicants’ premises, they were in the company of the members of the SAPS.
“What is puzzling in this scenario is that there is no proof that the respondent opened any case against the applicants at the police station, yet the police accompanied them to the applicants’ business premises without a search warrant,” reads the judgment handed down last week.
“In the absence of a case docket opened or search warrant to enter and search the premises of the applicants, [this] amounts to harassment. The members of the police services must always operate within the confines of the law,” said Bhengu.
