BY PHUMLANI SAUL

Nelson Mandela Bay police are investigating the murder of a security guard who was gunned down in KwaNobuhle on Thursday morning.

The perpetrators fled with his firearm.

The 22-year-old Fidelity-ADT security guard and a colleague were escorting a bread delivery truck at about 9am when they were approached by two men.

“The deceased and his colleague were escorting the bread truck along Gqabi Street,” police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart said.

“One of the suspects drew a firearm and started shooting at them.

“The deceased returned fire, but was fatally wounded.”

The perpetrators took the guard’s firearm before getting into a vehicle and fleeing.

The Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit is investigating cases of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The victim’s name will only be released once his next of kin has been notified.

Fidelity-ADT marketing and communications head Charnel Hattingh said they had launched an investigation into the incident and were working closely with the police to trace the culprits.

BY NOMALUNGELO BOOI

About 300 broken and damaged vehicles are piled up at the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s fleet department depots.

At the Deal Party depot, tyres are simply wheeled out by thieves as this facility, like others in the metro, is poorly guarded.Parts are also often stripped from damaged cars, bakkies and trucks.

City councillors have been left gobsmacked by the implosion of the fleet department, having witnessed broken vehicles gathering dust during several oversight visits this year.

Thieves walked off with 37 tyres, valued at R37,000, from the Deal Party depot sometime between September 3 and September 5.

The same depot was hit in July, when 44 tyres were stolen.The municipality is scrambling to find a solution and on Tuesday a turnaround plan was presented to councillors at a roads and transport portfolio committee meeting.

Councillors also demanded an update on the more than 40 municipal vehicles damaged due to negligent driving, dumped at the Deal Party depot since the beginning of 2022.

Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said an investigation into the tyre thefts was under way.


City councillors have been left gobsmacked by the implosion of the fleet department, having witnessed broken vehicles gathering dust during several oversight visits this year.

Thieves walked off with 37 tyres, valued at R37,000, from the Deal Party depot sometime between September 3 and September 5.

The same depot was hit in July, when 44 tyres were stolen.



The municipality is scrambling to find a solution and on Tuesday a turnaround plan was presented to councillors at a roads and transport portfolio committee meeting.

Councillors also demanded an update on the more than 40 municipal vehicles damaged due to negligent driving, dumped at the Deal Party depot since the beginning of 2022.

Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said an investigation into the tyre thefts was under way.



“The municipality together with police are investigating the theft of tyres,” she said.

“We have increased security patrols and visits to the depot.

“As the matter is still under investigation, no disciplinary action has been taken against any official.

“In an effort to curb such criminal incidents, the city has now secured a more secure space for the stock to be kept safe.”

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed the thefts.

“Investigations are ongoing,” she said.

The 300 vehicles are part of the city’s 2,500-strong service delivery fleet that ranges from sedans to light vehicles and trucks.

In a report outlining the turnaround plan, roads and transport acting executive director Givon van Eyck said the deterioration of the fleet department was attributed to various issues.

At the centre of the department’s challenges are staff shortages, the loss of work ethic and a lack of investment in fleet infrastructure.

“At present, the fleet department has over 300 vehicles in its various workshops waiting for repairs,” Van Eyck wrote.

“All these vehicles are critical instruments in the service delivery value chain.”

The report, dated September 14, also states that since its establishment 22 years ago, there has been no review of the fleet institutional arrangements.

“The environment has significantly changed over the past 22 years,” he said.

His short-term plan included:

Security assessment of all depots and improvement of security and access control;
Filling of critical vacancies;

Procure and streamline all repair and maintenance services; and
Centralise the storage of irreparable vehicles to provide space in workshops.
Addressing councillors, Van Eyck said while he was not present during previous oversight visits, he had met supply chain officials to discuss issues hindering the department.

“We recently had a meeting with the supply chain to alleviate some of the immediate challenges we’re faced with.

“We had a number of resolutions, one of which was repairs and maintenance, which is now being done and expedited to clear the backlog,” Van Eyck said.

He said the contract for specialist work had been cancelled due to challenges, but work continued to be sent to available contractors.

“The issue of the misuse of fuel is also being resolved, we are waiting for the commencement of the installation of the fuel monitoring system.

“We are also going to conduct sight visits and develop security plans.

“We will be dependent on security companies to manage our depots because there are issues with the internal security personnel.”

The report states that the department uses officials to carry out repairs and maintenance but has limited resources.

ANC councillor Gamalihleli Maqula demanded a report on the rampant theft and damage to municipal vehicles.

“In the last meeting we had with officials, we asked for an investigation into the stolen vehicle tyres but that report is not here,” he said.

“You can’t come with excuses and you equally can’t have drunk security guards damaging municipal vehicles and nothing is done about it.

“I won’t take part in the adoption of a turnaround plan until we get a report about what is being done about government vehicles that aren’t working.”

He suggested the adoption of the turnaround plan be deferred to a steering committee.

DOP councillor Florence Hermaans said the need to install tracking devices to monitor state vehicles was a clear indication that they were being abused.

“[Van Eyck] spoke about systems that are obsolete, and about devices that will be installed to monitor state vehicles in terms of fuel usage and whether municipal vehicles will be used for the intended purpose.

“All this is a result of abuse of municipal vehicles without any consequence management in place.”

ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said the issues at the fleet department affected services across the metro.

“I am looking at the turnaround plan but there are no time frames to measure performance.”

DA councillor Buyelwa Jacobs requested a report that would show how many vehicles the city had and what they were used for.

Patriotic Alliance councillor Bradley Murray said while municipal departments were dependent on each other, in some cases it was used as an excuse for work not being done.

“If supply chain management is the problem, then we need to invite officials from that division to explain the reasons for delays in purchasing the vehicles we need,” he said.

BY TSHEPISO MAMETELA

Angola community members in KwaNobuhle are not wavering in their support for a grieving family while the two men allegedly responsible for a senseless killing in the area in August continue to roam the streets.

Abulele Mdana, 26, died after being stabbed in the neck during a tavern brawl at Mandy’s Lounge in Phato Street on August 28.

He was buried on September 3, with the community unrelenting in its efforts to get answers from authorities on why the suspects were set free.

Community leader Thembisile Nogampula said they would continue to offer comfort to the family after assisting them to raise the money for Mdana’s burial.

“We hadn’t met with the family since the funeral and felt it was now necessary to be in the same boat with them,” Nogampula said on Thursday.

He said a meeting involving the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) at a community hall in KwaNobuhle on September 2 had not materialised.

The community was still at a loss over the suspects’ release from custody.

On August 30, the KwaNobuhle Magistrate’s Court struck the matter off the roll, citing insufficient evidence.

Police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart said investigations were continuing.

She said the docket would be taken back to court for a decision from the prosecutor once the investigations had advanced.

“At this stage, investigations are still being conducted,” Swart said.

A witness to the incident at the tavern agreed to provide a statement but feared for her safety.

Nogampula said he was attempting to get her to speak to the police.

“The only solution is to convince the witness to prepare her statement [but she does] not trust the system to guarantee her safety,” Nogampula said.

“For safety reasons, I have [assured her] anonymity.

“She agreed [to come forward] the last time we spoke, and now I need to follow it up.”Swart said witnesses should go to the KwaNobuhle station commander, Colonel Patric Goeda, for the police to obtain a statement.

“If a witness doesn’t want to come forward to give a statement, it becomes difficult for us to proceed with the case.

“Witnesses fearing for their safety need to take it up with the station commander,” she said.

BY YOLANDA PALEZWENI

Five social workers were robbed at gunpoint in Gqeberha on Thursday outside an old age home.

This comes after social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta raised concerns about attacks on social workers earlier this week and called on the police to act swiftly.She revealed that 18 social workers had been held at gunpoint in the northern areas, New Brighton, KwaMagxaki and western suburbs of the city.

On Thursday, the five social workers were robbed of their possessions including cellphones.

The keys to a government vehicle were thrown onto a nearby rooftop.

“The recent armed robbery has now pushed up the number of social workers that have been robbed,” Fanta said.

“We really cannot operate in conditions where each and every social worker has to be escorted for them to do their work.

“It is unacceptable and I’m planning to have a meeting with the provincial police commissioner to discuss interventions.

“But I must say it again that communities need to work with us and protect our social workers.”

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the social workers were robbed in Mlisane Street, Zwide, at about 10am.

She said they had been travelling in a minibus and stopped in the street to collect equipment.
The suspects robbed all the occupants in the vehicle of their cellphones and fled,” Janse van Rensburg said.

No-one was injured. Police are investigating
While waiting, three people approached them.

BY MKHUSELI SIZANI

Several hundred protesters from Westville informal settlement in Gqeberha blocked Mission Road on Monday morning with rocks, burning tyres, electric poles and sewage pipes demanding housing they say they was promised in 2015.

The construction of 6,500 housing units promised by the provincial housing department has been halted since 2017 by delays in building bulk sewage and water infrastructure by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

The protest started at 8am. Residents got angry when ward 36 councillor Khanyisa Mani (ANC) failed to satisfy them with responses to questions. He was accused of being distanced from the community, failing to giving them progress reports about developments in the area and failing to “thank them” for their votes.

He said: “When I took office there were no documents to check which projects have been completed or left incomplete. Secondly I did not know which committee to report to because I heard that there are two committees that represent the community.”

Some of the residents insulted him and accused him of being useless and ungrateful.

Just before 12pm, after he and police had left, protesters started stoning vehicles. A truck delivering chips was stoned, looted and torched.Sipho Ntsondwa, chairperson of Westville Development Committee, told GroundUp that during meetings with Mayor Eugene Johnson, the provincial Human Settlements department had blamed delays on the municipality’s failure to finish bulk water and sewage.

“In the meeting we asked Human Settlements to speed up the construction of our houses but the Department told us it cannot build us houses if there is no bulk water and sewer infrastructure. It asked the municipality to finish up the bulk and sewer project first. Then it will immediately build our houses.”

Ntsondwa said they decided to protest in order to get attention. “About 600 residents participated in today’s protest,” he said.

Ntsondwa said the settlement was over 22 years old but still had no proper roads, houses and flush toilets.

“We share 300 chemical toilets that are cleaned once a week. These toilets are not enough. We believe our bucket system was much better because we had privacy in them. These chemical toilets are shared by five households and they are disgusting.

“We have 68 standpipes and 35 are not working. Our streets are always muddy because of the leaking taps. Rubbish is not collected and we resorted to illegal dumping. We report these problems to our ward councillor but he is failing to help us,” he said.

Philasande George has been living in the area with her family of eight since 2000. “Most of our taps are faulty and others had to be closed,” she said. “On weekends there are always long queues. Our shacks are leaking and old. Most of us here survive on social grants and we don’t have money to renovate them.”

“But our main problem is the toilets.”

On Tuesday afternoon a public meeting was held between the ward councillor and residents. Mani said he would investigate the reason for the delays in construction. He said residents had also demanded new toilets, refuse removal and rubbish bags. The meeting had agreed to delegate some residents to work with him on these issues, he said.

Asked for a comment on Monday, acting Provincial Director for Human Settlements Caswell Mabunda told GroundUp he would prepare a response. He has not yet done so. Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki has not responded to our questions since Monday or answer our calls.

BY NOMALUNGELO BOOI

Copper and electricity cable thieves have become so emboldened they no longer bother to carry out their nefarious deeds under the cover of darkness. They don’t fear the law, or the consequences should they be caught.

However, their criminal actions have far-reaching effects on residents and businesses in Nelson Mandela Bay already struggling to work around crippling bouts of load-shedding.

This weekend, a large part of the metro was left without power after thieves dug up electricity cables, a power station exploded and an insulator burned out.The harbour was one of the areas affected.

Bay electricity and energy political boss Luxolo Namette said a task team had been formed to deal with the rampant theft

.“We meet every week to see what we can do,” he told the Weekend Post, adding that the cable theft and vandalism was hitting the metro hard financially.

It is all good and well to form a task team and to meet once a week to discuss what needs to be done to combat these criminal activities.But what is actually being done? Please tell us.

South Africans are more than weary of the same tired responses being trotted out each time a problem is raised.

The “we’ve formed a special task team” or a commission of inquiry, or whatever, no longer holds water. People are gatvol.

This is a question we’ve asked before and we’ll ask it again. Where are the metro police? Where is the intelligence-gathering by the SAPS on the criminal networks believed to be largely behind the cable thefts?

This country is being openly stripped bare by criminals who, clearly, have no fear of its severely under-resourced and poorly trained law enforcement agents.

The syndicates are suspected in some cases of working in cahoots with corrupt municipal officials and police officers.

Tackling these cable thefts needs to be addressed urgently, and properly, not with words but with actions.

It needs a joint effort between police and intelligence officials to identify the people behind these networks, and those collaborating with them, and to bring the full force of the law down on them.

If we don’t act now, there’ll be nothing left to protect soon and the investments we so desperately need to create jobs will blow right past us.

BY NOMALUNGELO BOOI

Two women have been arrested after allegedly snatching a toddler from a trolley at a cash and carry store in Cleary Park on Monday afternoon.

Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said that at about 2pm, the girl and her parents, aged 23 and 28, were shopping in the store when the women allegedly tried to kidnap the one-year-old from the trolley after the parents turned their backs for a few seconds to peruse the fridges.

The child was seated in the trolley,” Naidu said.“While they [parents] were busy at the fridges and with their backs to the trolley, it is alleged that a female walked up to the child, touched her and walked away.

“Within seconds, another female snatched the child and also walked away.

“When the father turned around and noticed the child was gone, he ran to the security at the door.“As the security guard was about to close the doors, the first woman pointed out to the father that the child was with the second suspect.

“The women indicated that they were just joking with the parents.”

Naidu said the two women and the parents did not know each other.

Security at the store notified police on Tuesday that the suspects and the parents were at their offices.

“Both suspects and complainants were brought to the police station and a case of kidnapping was opened.

“The women, aged 51 and 56, are detained. The investigation continues,” Naidu said.Police are warning parents that within the blink of an eye, a child can be snatched and kidnapped and it is of utmost importance that children are always kept in sight.”

BY PHUMLANI SAUL

The inaugural “All White Heritage Day Picnic” will be an intimate all white with a touch of heritage/cultural themed outdoor picnic with live music performances to be held in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.

Heritage Day on 24 September recognises and celebrates the cultural wealth and cultural diversity of our nation. South Africans celebrate the day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day, this is a great addition to Nelson Mandela Bay and Eastern Cape’s events calendar.

Attendees and the artists will be encouraged to dress in All-White but add a touch of heritage/cultural attire. There will also be traditional foods on sale at the event and an Arts and Craft Exhibition Market which will have exhibitions by crafters, beadworks, jewellery, local traditional designers’ wares, and visual artists which will all be in line with Heritage Day.

This concert will form part of the annual Ebubeleni Festival’s Concert Series as a build up to the main festival in December. The event’s main focus is music but includes a number of other elements which make it unique against other offerings.

The line-up boasts Gqeberha born multi award-winning singer Zonke Dikana, the new songstress on the block – Nomfundo Moh, Afro-pop singer – Ntsika, popular Neo-soul singer – Bongeziwe Mabandla, Gqeberha born Putuma Tiso will bring a touch of gospel. Sharing the stage with the national artists will be Gqeberha’s very popular DJ’s and musicians – Hermanos, Lorna Targaryen, Joliza and Siya Koyo. Mafa Bavuma and Mmeli Notsh will be Programme Directors of this very hot line up.

The “All White Heritage Day Picnic” is funded by the National Lotteries Commission and supported by Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, Nkqubela FM, Ebubeleni Festival Projects NPC, Event Hire Network and Mahambehlala Communications.

Tickets to the event are open already at Webtickets, Pick n Pay and Boxer Stores nation-wide, tickets start from R295 and cooler box is R95. Dress Code: All White with a touch of Heritage/Cultural | Gates open at 09:00 | Event starts at 11:00 and ends at 18:00. No under 18years of age will be allowed (this because there will be alcohol).

BY PHUMLANI SAUL

The police are trying to track down the killer of Nompumelelo Madlokasi, who was shot dead on Tuesday morning

Police are on the hunt for the man behind the murder of a 56-year-old woman in New Brighton on Tuesday morning.

The killer knocked on the door of the woman’s house in Mini Street at about 8.30am.

According to police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, he then entered the house and coOne shot was fired at her, hitting her in the head.

The man then walked out of the house.

Madlokasi died at the scene.

“Police are investigating a case of murder,,” Janse van Rensburg said, adding that the motive for the shooting was unknown at this stage.

Anyone who can assist with any information relating to the murder is asked to contact Captain Monde Sitole of the provincial organised crime Investigation unit on 082-457-2812, Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or the nearest police station.nfronted Nompumelelo Madlokasi as she was leaving a room.Anonymous tip-offs can also be communicated via the MySAPS App.

All information is confidential.