Durban - The home of eThekwini Municipality’s head of city integrity and investigations unit (CIIU) Mbuso Ngcobo was invaded by three armed men during the early hours of Sunday morning and his security guard was also attacked.
The incident was confirmed by the police, but very little information has been made public on the matter.
A municipal employee, who did not want to be named, said the armed men overpowered, handcuffed and robbed a security officer of his belongings at gunpoint and also stole a television set from the house in West Riding, Hillcrest.
According to the police, the security guard was later rescued by his colleague.
It is not clear where Ngcobo was at the time. When contacted for comment, he declined to share details of the incident.
“Yes, the incident took place but I have been warned against talking about it in the media as it is a very sensitive matter. This all happened at around 2 am on Sunday. It’s now in the hands of the police and I have to respect them and allow them to do their job,” Ngcobo said.
The CIIU has been dealing with numerous cases of fraud and corruption within the municipality and a number of employees including some senior ranking officials have been fired after being found guilty following investigations by the unit into their conduct.
During a Fraud Awareness Seminar at the Durban Exhibition Centre last month, Ngcobo said Durban’s forensic investigators risked their lives to root out and prevent corruption in the city.
He had said investigators should never allow themselves to be corrupted as they would be virtually dead if they did.
“Once you allow yourself to be compromised, you will never be able to do your job properly. As the CIIU, I must say I am proud of this unit. We investigate without fear or favour. Some success of the unit is that the Auditor General reported that the CIIU saved the municipality over R32 million of possible irregular and wasteful expenditure during the 2017/18 financial year.
“Our investigations have resulted in suspensions and dismissal of a number of officials including senior executives in the municipality.”
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said no injuries were reported during or after the incident. Gwala said a case of robbery was opened at the Hillcrest police station for investigation.