A Mpumalanga municipal employee suspended for alleged theft of tyres belonging to a municipal truck was beaten by the community and later handed to the police for allegedly stealing a water pump and leaving residents without water for three days. Cables that had been reported stolen were also allegedly found at his house by the enraged community. The theft of the water pump came after residents were finally getting a consistent water supply, which had been disrupted by the floods.
According to the Nkomazi local municipality, the employee, who now faces a new charge of theft, was on suspension for theft at the time that he allegedly stole the water pump. “We can confirm that the person seen in the video is our employee who is on suspension for a crime of theft,” said spokesperson Cyril Ripinga. “When we heard that a water pump belonging to the municipality was stolen at Langeloop, we opened a case.
“The community that was frustrated with [lack of water] while we were budgeting to fix [the problem] managed to find the suspect at a drinking spot and went to search at his house. “They actually found more things, including cables that were stolen; hence, he was arrested,” he said. Ripinga said vandalism and theft had become a norm.
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“As the municipality, we are totally against vandalism, and it pains us, as the one found is working for our municipality and sabotaging the community we employed him to serve. We are busy with internal investigations, and harsh disciplinary measures are going to unfold as we continue with the criminal case he’s facing,” said Ripinga. Spokesperson of the Mpumalanga police, Col Mpho Nonyane, confirmed that they were called by the community which reported that a man who had stolen a water pump had been found.
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