Concerns over security at eThekwini municipal sites after city employee gunned down at depot

Security measures implemented to protect the workers and property of eThekwini Municipality have come under renewed scrutiny after another employee was gunned down at a municipal site.

A number of water tankers have been dispatched to affected areas across eThekwini. Residents from various areas within the Northern Region came out in their numbers on Sunday to collect water. File Picture: Facebook

Published Apr 25, 2022

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DURBAN - SECURITY measures implemented to protect the workers and property of eThekwini Municipality have come under renewed scrutiny after another employee was gunned down at a municipal site.

Municipal staff member Phumzile Qatha was shot dead at the municipal depot in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. Her family declined to speak yesterday, saying they were still grieving and not ready to talk.

The latest shooting, just two months after another municipal employee, Amos Ngcobo, was gunned down in his office in Springfield, has triggered outrage and a demand for answers.

There has been an arrest in connection with Ngcobo’s murder and the accused is currently before the court.

Opposition parties said the municipality was spending millions of rand on security, adding that the security manager should explain these serious security lapses.

Labour union Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union (Imatu) accused the city of not taking the security of its workers seriously.

Qatha was in charge of managing the disaster relief water tankers and allocating them to various areas.

A report by The Mercury’s sister newspaper, Isolezwe, detailed the shooting based on witness accounts.

The report said Qatha was chatting with another employee near the gate of the depot when a gunman opened fire on her.

The gunman shot her several times, even after she was on the ground, and thereafter walked casually to a car that was parked nearby.

The municipality said it was still putting together the details of what transpired during the shooting.

Imatu’s Queen Mbatha described the murder as “shocking”.

“This is not the first time that a worker has been killed on site; we hold the employer responsible for the safety of workers.

“After the first incident, we submitted to the employer that it needed to prioritise the safety of the workers. It seems, with this incident, that they are not taking the safety of workers seriously,” she said.

Mbatha said the security at municipal sites was lax, and there was poor control at access points, which allowed for such incidents to occur.

“We know that there have been problems in the water and sanitation unit, and the security there should have been beefed up.

“If the municipality has a security plan, it is not being implemented,” she said.

“It is shocking that a worker is killed at work – how does that happen? It creates an atmosphere of fear among the workers who simply want to do their jobs,” she said.

IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said that those in charge of security in the municipality needed to account for the murders.

“We need to know what is the role of security if killers can walk on to municipal property, shoot someone, and walk out. The municipality spends a lot of money on security,” he said.

Nkosi said the municipality should conduct an investigation into the affairs of the water unit. “It cannot be that in such a short time there are this many workers who have been killed.

“A special investigation should be conducted to determine what is behind this, otherwise there is a risk that more workers could die,” said Nkosi.

The DA’s Thabani Mthethwa said it was extremely concerning that a second worker had been shot dead on municipal property in just a few months.

“The matter of security needs to be closely looked at; it cannot be so easy for criminals to walk into a government precinct and shoot dead the people working there.

“We will be engaging with the city manager to give us a report on what is to be done to ensure workers’ safety,” said Mthethwa.

Thabane Miya of the EFF shared the sentiment regarding the issue of security in eThekwini being lax.

“Security is of paramount importance, but we see (it’s lax) even at City Hall there are people who come and go with minimum checks. They are there daily without a valid reason so all of us are not safe,” he said.

He added that while they would not want to speculate, it was clear that such occurrences had something to do with tenders. “The narratives seem to be that ‘if you do not want to do a wrong thing (with tenders), you must just die’,” he said.

Chad Thomas, a security expert at IRS Forensic Investigations, said the nature of the killings was concerning as they did not seem random.

“Despite South Africa having an abhorrent murder rate, these particular murders do not appear to be random.

“Based on the sheer number of politically related killings in KZN, one could draw the conclusion that these killings of municipal workers could be the result of workers having received jobs due to political affiliations within a very factionalised ruling party.

“These factions are operating almost the same as a criminal enterprise, seeking to establish control over entities, much the same as gangs try to establish control over territory through sheer terror and intimidation,” he said.

Deputy mayor Philani Mavundla, who also chairs the infrastructure committee that leads the water cluster, said they were shocked by the shooting.

He said they would be relying on the police to identify the motive for the shooting and advise them on the way forward.

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