A City of Johannesburg official has shared how the 38-year-old woman who was caught breaking into their offices in Braamfontein the early hours of Monday morning “acted deranged” when caught red-handed by security guards and JMPD officials.
“She was pretending to be crazy and making all sorts of utterances. She said her mom was a witch and it was her who had sent her to commit witchcraft in the offices,” said city spokesperson Lucky Sindane.
But Sindane said that instead of potions and the tools needed to perform wizardry and witchcraft, the woman had hard drives she had allegedly stolen from their offices and a tablet used to verify ID numbers during elections.
An array of tools allegedly used to break into the building were reportedly found in the woman’s possession, but Sindane said there was also something interesting in her backpack of loot.
“She had her ID and vaccination card,” he said.
The second floor offices which she had broken into house the IEC offices and health department.
“Maybe she was after a vaccine,” chuckled Sindane.
The woman, however, seemed to know exactly what she was after as she went straight to the IEC offices on the second floor and targeted specific computers which she dismantled to get the hard drives.
Upon hearing voices, she tried to hide but was found behind a door, according to CCTV footage.
Dressed in a black tracksuit, a surgical mask and bucket hat, Sindane said the woman had short hair and was stockily built.
Security guards spotted her on CCTV trying to break into the building through the emergency exit door. They called the Johannesburg metro police for backup, after which a short search led them to her.
Earlier, Sindane told Sunday Times Daily that the woman was believed to be a serial burglar whom they were convinced was the same person who had broken into the City offices three times before.
The last break-in was just a week ago.
What is most distressing about this break-in is that this is not the first time the suspect has broken into the Metro Centre nor is it the first time she has been arrested.
— Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse
Sindane said as with the previous break-ins, the woman was clad in black, but last week the thief had donned a cap.
All the break-ins involved targeting specific offices and making off with hard drives. Sindane said it was still unclear why the suspect went for these drives.
In 2020, she was arrested for the same crime but the case was thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence.
Sindane was confident this would not be the case this time.
While the identity of the woman remains concealed until her first court appearance, Sindane revealed that she had five companies registered on the City’s database as a supplier.
He could not immediately confirm what companies these were or whether they had any dealings with the state.
Meanwhile, Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse expressed her frustration at the fact that the burglaries allegedly were committed by the same suspect.
“What is most distressing about this break-in is that this is not the first time the suspect has broken into the Metro Centre nor the first time she has been arrested, processed by the SAPS and subsequently released due to a lack of evidence. In the most recent incident, last month, the same alleged serial robber stole 30 hard drives from the group legal and development planning departments.
“The nerve centre of service delivery in the City cannot be continuously targeted by a single criminal, who when arrested then evades prosecution by the state’s criminal justice system,” Phalatse said in a statement.
She called on authorities to ensure that the guilty party did not get away this time.
“The suspect, who clearly has a penchant for the City’s computer hardware, has on several occasions evaded prosecution for similar alleged crimes due to a lack of evidence.
“This is alarming and frustrating, as it shows deep inefficiencies in the national government’s criminal justice system, and hampers our efforts as the multiparty government to build a safe and secure city.”
The mayor said they would be reviewing security protocols to prevent this from happening again.
The woman is set to appear in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court soon.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.