Company owner arrested in City of Johannesburg 'office burglary'

A suspected “serial burglar” — a company owner registered as a supplier — has been arrested with computer hard drives inside City of Johannesburg offices.

The 38-year-old woman was found hiding behind a door during a search of the offices in Braamfontein in the early hours of Friday morning.

City spokesperson Lucky Sindane said it was suspected that the woman was behind three previous break-ins at city offices since October 2020.

The woman was arrested by security officials who spotted a person attempting to break into the building via an emergency exit.

“They monitored her for some time as she tried. She finally succeeded and they called the Johannesburg metro police department for backup. She headed to the second floor where the IEC’s offices are. She opened PCs and took hard drives,” said Sindane, adding that the woman targeted specific devices.

“The officials entered the building and started looking for her. She heard voices and went into another office. She was found hiding behind the door,” said Sindane.

The woman was allegedly found in possession of a backpack. Inside it were hard drives, tools and a tablet used to verify identity numbers during elections.

She was arrested on the spot.

Sindane said it was unclear what the woman was looking for on the hard drives.

City officials were confident she was the same person who had tried to break into offices previously. There was an attempted break-in last week.

“The first time was in October 2020. She came back again that week and was arrested. However, the case was thrown out due to insufficient evidence,” said Sindane, adding that at the time the suspect was linked to the incident by CCTV footage.

“This was the first time she was caught red-handed, but we have been looking out for her.”

While the woman’s identity is likely to be revealed when she appears in court soon, Sindane said she had dealings with the city.

“She has five companies that are all registered as suppliers to the city, but we are yet to verify what dealings she has had with us.”

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