A local delivery company is looking to remove the Cloetesville and Welgevonden areas from their service delivery areas, following continued violence against delivery drivers.
This is according to Dries Vorster, operational team leader for several of Pingo’s branches in the Cape Winelands area.
Pingo is the Shoprite Holdings Group’s on-demand delivery company, which facilitates the Checkers Sixty60 delivery service, according to the Shoprite website.
A Checkers Sixty60 driver leaves a housing estate in the Welgevonden area. Drivers delivering to these areas report incidents of attempted crimes against them “almost every day”, according to Dries Vorster, operational team leader for several Pingo branches in the Cape Winelands area. PHOTO: Kiara Wales
‘We are suffering’
Since the beginning of 2025, violent incidents against drivers in the Cloetesville area have increased in frequency to the point of daily occurrence, said Vorster.
“It happens mostly on the bridge towards Welgevonden from the R304 and near the Mount Simon complex,” said a Checkers Sixty60 driver who spoke to SMF News, but preferred to remain anonymous due to job security concerns.
According to the driver, criminals hide by the roadside and wait for drivers to pass, before throwing stones at them until they fall off their vehicles.
“Then [they] rob us of our belongings, money, documents, and things like that,” he said.
“It’s up to you and God to protect you when you deliver to Cloetesville side,” said a Checkers Sixty60 driver who spoke to SMF News, but preferred to remain anonymous due to concerns regarding job security. “They rob our belongings and we just have to come back because, if we go to the police, they just tell us: ‘We told you not to go there’,” he claimed. PHOTO: Kiara Wales
“The authorities do not understand the type of work that [delivery] drivers are doing, and are not helping them,” said Vorster. “We are suffering.”
“The municipality is aware of the increased criminal activity in the [Cloetesville] area,” said Stuart Grobbelaar, communications manager for Stellenbosch Municipality, in correspondence with SMF News. “Concerns around the safety of delivery drivers have also been noted and are being actively raised with [the South African Police Service (SAPS)] during our ongoing engagements.”
‘We don’t have any choice’
Past attempts to remove other areas from their service polygon (or delivery areas) have been successful, but took almost two years due to a lack of cooperation with local authorities, according to Vorster.
“If something happens to the drivers, they report it to the police, but they often don’t want to help drivers by giving them case numbers,” claimed Vorster, in correspondence with SMF News. “Without a case number from the police, it’s really difficult to get anything done.”
The turn-off to the Cloetesville and Welgevonden areas from the R304 is where the majority of violent incidents against drivers occur, according to a Checkers Sixty60 driver who spoke to SMF News. “Crime is a sad reality affecting communities across South Africa, and Cloetesville is no exception,” said Stuart Grobbelaar, communications manager for Stellenbosch Municipality, in correspondence with SMF News. PHOTO: Kiara Wales
The delivery driver who spoke to SMF News said that he had reported numerous attacks at the Cloetesville SAPS station.
“Every time we go, we can’t open a case because they tell us that […] they warned us not to go there,” he claimed. “But we don’t have any choice.”
However, according to sergeant Zenobia Sedeman, spokesperson for Cloetesville SAPS, they have not received any such complaints.
“Complaints of […] Checkers Sixty60 [drivers] were not reported at our police station,” she said, in correspondence with SMF News.
“There’s only two options,” said the delivery driver. “They must remove the area, or we have to remove ourselves from the job.”
Cloetesville South African Police Service (SAPS) station is located 3.3km from Welgevonden Estate.“Cloetesville SAPS and Stellenbosch SAPS are working together to curb the crime of robberies,” said sergeant Zenobia Sedeman, spokesperson for Cloetesville SAPS. “We urge [victims] to report the crime and to give identification, if possible, of the perpetrators.” PHOTO: Kiara Wales