Pretoria - The City of Ekurhuleni said electricians who were brutally murdered by community members after being mistaken for cable thieves had produced paperwork to prove that they were duly hired to attend to electrical problems in the area.
Ekurhuleni MMC for Water, Sanitation and Energy, Senzi Sibeko, said an investigation is now underway into the murder of the four electrical contractors.
“City of Ekurhuleni electricians requested assistance from city-approved electrical contractors to assist on the site of an electrical outage in Sarel Hattingh Street, Klippoortjie AH, Germiston. These electrical contractors were attacked by an angry mob of community members who wrongfully assumed that these contractors were cable thieves,” said Sibeko.
“Despite the contractors producing their paperwork in the form of wayleaves and other documentation, the community proceeded to attack them, which tragically resulted in the death of four contractors.”
Sibeko said the ongoing investigation is led by the South African Police Service and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department.
“It has been brought to my attention that the details of this heinous crime have been circulated to the media by a political party represented in council. I want to implore leaders of political parties to refrain from sharing information that is still subject to investigation in order to not muddy the waters and prejudice investigations underway by law-enforcement agencies,” he said.
“Equally, it is insensitive to the families of the deceased that their rights to privacy and dignity in this painful period is infringed upon for political point scoring. I want to plead with our communities and ask that you refrain from engaging in acts of violence and vigilante justice and to allow city officials or contractors in the employ of the city to do their work to ensure that communities receive the services that they deserve.”
Sibeko sent “heartfelt condolence” to the families and loved ones of the contractors who were victims of “senseless acts of violence”.
IOL