Robbers target guards’ weapons

File photo: Michael Walker

File photo: Michael Walker

Published Nov 21, 2014

Share

Durban -

Armed security officers deployed to guard municipal employees and contractors while they performed routine maintenance were frequently attacked and robbed of their firearms, the eThekwini Municipality revealed on Thursday.

“This would appear to have been the motive behind this tragedy,” spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa, said of the killing of an Enforce Security Services guard on Tuesday.

Sibusiso Stanley Ngema, 45, was with a colleague protecting plumbing contractors working in KwaMashu when they were attacked by several gang members. One of them was wounded by Ngema, but the security guard, a former policeman who had joined Enforce just 19 days earlier, was shot five times and died at the scene.

The suspects fled, but were later apprehended by police during another gun battle at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, as they tried to rescue their injured accomplice.

Mthethwa told the Daily News on Thursday the two contract workers who were being guarded had been engaged by the eThekwini Water and Sanitation department, and not the electricity department, as previously reported.

“They were plumbers (hired) to provide service delivery in the region. Such plumbers are escorted by companies engaged in terms of a security tender. In this instance the service provider was Enforce Security.”

She said the attack had been motivated by the gang’s quest for weapons.

“We do not maintain statistics on this type of incident, but it can be said that they occur several times a year, but seldom with fatalities or injuries. In most armed robberies, the motive is to rob officers of their firearms,” Mthethwa said.

“Shootings normally only result when resistance is offered. These statistics are maintained by the SAPS.”

Daily News

Related Topics: