Two eThekwini Municipality employees have been arrested in connection with the theft of diesel meant for municipal operations, following a sting operation led by the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU).
The arrests were made last week after investigators responded to community reports that municipal truck drivers had been offloading diesel at a private residence in eKukhanyeni, near Verulam. A municipal water truck was caught in the act, offloading diesel at the property, while a second water truck was found parked outside the same premises.
Both vehicles were assigned to deliver water to surrounding communities.
CIIU head Jimmy Ngcobo confirmed that a case of theft had been opened at Inanda Police Station and that the suspects are expected to appear in court soon.
“The suspects were found with 12 containers—each carrying 25 litres—amounting to 300 litres of stolen diesel,” said Ngcobo. “Further investigations will be conducted, as there are allegations that diesel is frequently offloaded in this area.”
Ngcobo added that the stolen diesel is believed to be resold illegally and reiterated the city’s zero-tolerance approach to internal corruption.
“We will not allow municipal employees to abuse public resources. We urge residents to continue reporting fraud and corruption—it is because of vigilant community members that this case was cracked,” he said.
The arrests form part of the City’s ongoing efforts to clamp down on fraud, corruption, and abuse of municipal infrastructure and resources. The municipality has committed to publishing regular updates on progress in these investigations.
