Water workers robbed in Pietermaritzburg

A robbery at gunpoint of Msunduzi Municipality employees from the water department has sparked fear among other employees, who attend to service delivery matters in the community.

The robbery allegedly took place on Sunday evening in Imbali Unit 14, when the employees went to attend to a water-related matter.

The two employees (a man and woman) were robbed of their belongings, which included cell phones and cash. They were not injured during the incident.

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According to ward 17 councillor, Mphilisi Ndlovu, most of the residents of the area where the incident took place did not have water for most of Monday because other employees were too scared to go into the area and attend to the water problem.

The employees were only able to go back when they were being escorted by security. “This is not right because things like this are delaying service delivery to the people. I think this was [deliberate] sabotage of service delivery by people who know that no employee will want to go back to where their [safety] will be put at risk
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Msunduzi Municipality confirmed and condemned the incident. In a statement released on Tuesday, the municipality said they are appealing to members of the public to refrain from attacking and robbing employees attending to service delivery issues in the community.

They confirmed that the employees from water services were attacked and robbed at Imbali Unit 14 when they were attending to a water-related matter.

City manager
City manager, Lulamile Mapholoba, has strongly condemned the robbery and is appealing to law enforcement agencies to clamp down on this behaviour.

While the city has a responsibility to the community, we also have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our workers. Such illicit behaviour may result in us being unable to deliver services to our communities and this will affect law-abiding citizens.
“We were compelled to allocate security to escort the workers in order to ensure that residents from Imbali and surrounding areas have water supply. We cannot afford the costs of allocating resources for escort all the time,” he said.

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Mapholoba also appealed to the community policing forum and law enforcement representatives to help them fight crime in the communities because together they can achieve a safer city.

Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson, Sergeant Sifiso Gwala, said the employees were approached by two unknown men who pointed a firearm at them and demanded cell phones.

Plessislaer police are investigating a case of armed robbery but no one has been arrested.