Municipality investigating allegations of theft at xenophobia camp

Durban – Video footage which shows workers from eThekwini Municipality’s Durban Solid Waste unit allegedly removing items from a storage tent at a xenophobia transit camp in Chatsworth is now part of a theft investigation.

The video footage, allegedly shot by a woman living at the temporary shelter and which has gone viral, shows workers, clad in orange pants and white t-shirts, exiting one of the green tents and loading items into a green bin. A worker from DSW is seen opening the bin for his colleague to load the items.

The footage is not clear enough to see what exactly is being loaded into the green bin.

A woman who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity said she watched helplessly as the men allegedly loaded non-perishable items like peanut butter, toilet paper, soap, canned food, and baby formula.

“They arrived at 08:00 in one truck. There were about four or five guys in total and two guys came out of the truck and they were pretending like they were collecting refuse.

“They went into the storage tent and started loading baby formula, nappies, canned food, tissues, sugar, peanut butter into the rubbish bin,” she claimed.

“We asked them where and why they were taking the stuff but they did not answer. At the time we did not take them seriously until one of the women overheard them say they are taking the stuff and translated what was happening,” the mother of five from the Democratic Republic of Congo said.

“That is when there was a standoff between us and them,” said the 43 year-old. She admitted that the men at the camp closed the gate and refused to let the workers leave the premises.

“We are devastated and disappointed because there are mothers with babies here. It’s sad that they would steal from us. We are helpless and stuck in this situation. It feels like we are in prison,” she said.

courtesy  : News24

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