Durban - The quiet town of Richmond was literally ablaze early on Monday morning when the municipal offices were set on fire.
MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has condemned the suspected arson attack.
The office of municipal manager, Edward Sibusiso Sithole was razed to the ground, while the attached Memorial Hall, which is more than 100 years old, was also badly damaged as a result of the fire.
Damage to the buildings is estimated at millions of rand.
Dube-Ncube called on law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the incident and apprehend the criminals behind it.
“Harsh action must be taken against the perpetrators of this unfortunate incident. Richmond is enjoying a peaceful season and focusing on the business of driving development and growth to communities. Burning down municipal properties is nothing but a futile effort to tarnish an otherwise improving image of this municipality,” the MEC said.
Richmond is one of the municipalities that was showered with praise by the auditor-general this financial year for posting a clean audit outcome.
“We will not rest until the criminals responsible are brought to book, nor will we succumb to the whims of the backward forces who are hell-bent on subverting the strides of progress the Richmond Municipality is making,” Dube-Ncube said.
Richmond mayor, Andrew Ragavaloo, said they were shocked by the torching of the offices. Apart from destroying the municipal manager’s office and the Memorial Hall, Ragavaloo revealed that the fire had also destroyed hundreds of official documents and equipment worth thousands of rand.
“As a municipality we are unaware of any problems or grievances which may exist that could have prompted this attack. This act of criminality is aimed at causing upheaval and chaos in peaceful Richmond,” Ragavaloo said, adding that the council was co-operating fully with the police in order to bring the perpetrators to book.
Police confirmed that a case of arson and malicious damage to property was being investigated. Forensic experts were on the scene on Monday combing through the debris to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, police have yet to make any arrests in connection with the fire that gutted DA party offices at the legislature building in Pietermaritzburg in September.
Nine rooms, including offices used by six members of the provincial legislature, two support staff offices and a boardroom, were gutted in an alleged arson attack.
Floors and roofs caved in and reams of documents were destroyed.
Four IFP offices were razed in the legislature in August. No arrests were made in that case either and investigations are continuing.
Daily News