Pietermaritzburg - A special task team has been formed to hunt for the junior traffic officer who allegedly gunned down Msunduzi municipal traffic manager, Phumla Dlamini, last week.
A city-wide manhunt has gone provincial, and Pietermaritzburg police spokesman, Mthokozisi Ngobese, said on Tuesday the arrest was “imminent” and that every lead was being followed.
Dlamini, the former acting manager of public safety, was shot by a colleague in his office at the traffic and security department in Washington Road last Thursday.
Read: Traffic chief gunned down by colleague
Dlamini was shot five times, once in the head, with a 9mm pistol and died later that day in hospital.
The suspected gunman escaped in a municipal vehicle, which he crashed in France township, before fleeing in an unmarked private taxi.
It is believed the junior traffic officer had worked in the department for a year. Sources indicated a labour dispute may have been behind the shooting. Dlamini joined the Msunduzi Municipality’s traffic department a few years ago, after lengthy service at the eThekwini and uMhlathuze (Richards Bay) municipalities.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the deaths of two Msunduzi electricity workers are being investigated after they plunged to their deaths on Sunday while repairing street lights in Pelham.
The two were working on a street light when the hydraulic lift they were standing on collapsed.
The maximum weight the hydraulic lift could carry was 120kg. Neither man was harnessed or wearing protective gear when they fell.
They have been identified as 45-year-old Mdunyiswa Vivian Shozi and 63-year-old Thembinkosi Gerald Sithole.
Shozi joined the municipality in April 1994, while Sithole joined in February 1977. Both were described as seasoned employees.
Acting municipal spokeswoman, Nqobile Madonda, said a “mechanical failure” on the truck caused the crane to break, and that a full and thorough investigation was under way.
Madonda said the municipality’s investigation would include why the men were not harnessed or wearing hard hats.
Daily News
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