According to police, on January 13 at about 19:30, a 25-year-old security guard stationed at the plant and his colleague, were approached by four men. Two of them were armed with firearms and held the guards at gunpoint, they were told to lie on the floor.
“They covered our faces and tied us up with shoe laces. They said we mustn’t do anything funny,” said the guard.
The four men took the guard and his friend across the stream and left them in the nearby brushes.
The guard said that he heard them cutting a cable.
The thieves had cut off approximately R56 000 worth of copper cabling at the sewage plant.
“We were rescued by a man passing by in the early hours of the morning. He heard us calling for help, removed our restraints and assisted us with calling my supervisor,” said the guard.
The guard added that the incident has traumatized him, leaving him afraid to be at his post as a security guard which he has been for the past three years.
Mr Theo van Vuuren, municipal administrator stated on Facebook that evening about and hour later that two municipal sewerage stations, one in Klarinet X2 and one in Pine Ridge, had been vandalised.
“We had serious vandalism and theft of electrical and mechanical equipment. The copper was stripped and stolen. Both stations are dysfunctional now and will affect industries and the abattoir as well,” he said.
He further commented that the municipality would assess the situation the following day.
“The bad part is that at the Klarinet X2 (Bush Pump) Station there were security guards, but they ran away and did not even bother to report it. This issue will also require drastic action,” he stated on Facebook.
Users on Facebook commented questioning if the guards were equipped with communications equipment resulting in the incident not being immediately reported, others suggested that security guards should join Witbank 911 and that if they had been in contact there would have been an immediate response.
Emalahleni Municipality failed to comment in time for print.
