An employee of the City of Ekurhuleni’s Boksburg bus depot is in hot water for, without permission from her superiors, taking a video of herself decrying the aftermath of an armed robbery that recently saw the wheels literally fall off the metro bus services.

This came after criminals, reportedly driving in a truck, entered the depot during the early hours of Monday morning (October 27), held the two nightshift security guards at gunpoint, and tied them up. This is before proceeding to the parked buses and stripping the rims together with the tyres.

Six of the buses were left propped up on bricks.

They also ransacked the workshop, stealing spares, and vandalised other buses and a council-owned bakkie parked in the premises.

A preliminary report shows that the robbers, who are believed to have arrived around 21:00 and left at around 02:00, made off with at least 21 rims and tyres, nuts, engine oil, and six heavy-duty batteries.

Both the SAPS and EMPD are investigating the robbery, and it’s believed that it was an inside job.

Information gathered suggests that the criminals gained entry through the fence before they ambushed the security guards. They then forced open the gate to enter the property in their truck, which was then used to load their loot.

Organised crime

Speaking to the Advertiser on site, MMC of Roads and Transport Management, Andile Mngwevu, said he believes that this incident is linked to a robbery syndicate operating and targeting municipal assets across the city.

“These incidents are not only happening in Boksburg depot, it seems like there is a syndicate that is operating all over the city.

“All over at depots, the city is losing vehicles, diesel, equipment and all sorts of things on a regular basis, and we seem to be not active in responding to this criminal activity.”

Mngwevu said they believe that some of the thefts and robberies are done deliberately.

“We will engage all the relevant parties, including senior management and the EMPD, to conduct a full investigation into this possible syndicate. We have to go deeper into the root cause of this problem, and we will leave no stone unturned in this matter.”

To mitigate the risk, the city plans to strengthen security at its depots.

“Buses and the equipment we lose are very expensive. The EMPD must deploy more resources, including armed security guards, and install CCTV cameras in our depots. This will ensure the proper monitoring of all our deposits across the city.”

Capable

The MMC said he doesn’t think that the security provider is capable enough to safeguard the depots.

“There are only two guards at night, who are unarmed. They are carrying panic buttons, while the syndicate are armed. It seems like this was organised crime. Even if the security guards wanted to fight back, they couldn’t match the criminals.”

Viral video

One of the employees is now under fire for passing sensitive information to the public without authorisation.

In the video, the woman is heard complaining that people entered the facility to vandalise and steal. She says they messed up and left the depot empty. She pointed out that at least her bus was not stripped.

Reacting to the viral video about the robbery, Mngwevu said: “The video infringes the policy of communication. It is a form of misconduct because when you enter your workplace and find that an incident occurred, you report it to the supervisor. There are processes that need to be followed by the city in handling that information.”

The MMC said measures were put in place to immediately replace the stolen items, and the buses were back on the road the same day.

The loss control team is still compiling a full report. The cost of the theft is not yet determined.

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