Four employees of Emfuleni municipal in Vereeniging and a manager of a petrol station in Sebokeng township have been arrested for theft of three 20 litres of paint.
The four employees were arrested after they had allegedly sold the paint to the manager of the petrol station on Monday.
The white enamel paint was meant to be used by the four employees for road markings on the main road of the township.
The road signs of the four kilometre long busy road known as Moshweshwe have faded.
According to municipal spokesman Klaas Mofomme, a member of the public overheard the employees and the garage manager sealing the deal and the paint being handed over.
“Police and members of the safety department received the tip-off and they went to investigate. They found the paint at the garage and arrested the four implicated employees and the manager at the garage,” said Klaas.
He condemned the theft and said the municipality would also conduct its own investigation.
“That paint was meant to be used for one of the busiest roads which had many accidents because of among other things poor markings. Should the four employees be found guilty we will deal with them harshly because they are stealing from the community,” he said.
The five will face a charge of theft and will appear in court this week.
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