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Sanral denies employee arrested for Mpumalanga cash heist
An employee of the main contractor responsible for road maintenance was detained following a misunderstanding with the police, Sanral said .
The SANRAL Head Office in Pretoria, 27 May 2021 . Photo: citizen.co.za/Neil McCartney
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) has denied that one of its employees was arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit heist in Mpumalanga saying it was a ‘misunderstanding’
The heist took place on Wednesday on the R40 near Hazyview.
A man was arrested shortly after the heist, provincial police said on Thursday.
A security guard who worked as a co-driver was shot and killed, while two other guards were wounded.
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Employee not involved
The man is not an employee, but working for a company contracted to the agency, Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona said.
“Sanral would like to clarify that none of its employees have been arrested by the police in connection with the alleged heist. Sanral further states that none of its employees are directly responsible for cleaning national roads.”
One of the employees of VEA Construction, the main contractor responsible for road maintenance, was detained following a misunderstanding with the police, Mona confirmed.
The employee was sent out to assist in clearing the scene as would normally happen with any accident on the routes a contractor patrols, he said.
Misunderstanding
“Upon their arrival at the scene, the contractor’s employees found the police had barricaded the scene for investigation. Once the forensics team and the fire department had concluded their work, they instructed the team to proceed with the cleanup. The cleanup is required to get the operations of the road back on track such that traffic movement is not impeded.”
“The misunderstanding and arrest happened when a second team of police officers found the member cleaning the scene. During the arrest, the said individual identified himself as a Sanral employee, as opposed to mentioning the contractor’s company,” Mona said.
The misunderstanding has been resolved and the individual was released on Thursday, Mona added.
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