‘B&B owner forced me to collect her refuse at gunpoint’

An Addo refuse removal truck driver has opened a case with police after a woman allegedly pointed a firearm at him and two colleagues on Friday, then forced him to collect her rubbish bags from inside her yard, even though the truck had already passed her street.

Nelson Ntlabati, 55, who works for the Sundays River Valley municipality in Addo, said he and his colleagues feared for their lives during the incident.

Ntlabati wants the resident to be arrested as he claims it was not the first time she has intimidated refuse removal staff.

Police on Sunday confirmed they were investigating a case of intimidation and pointing of a firearm.

Ntlabati said he had been driving, and that his two colleagues were picking up refuse bags and placing them on to the back of the truck.

Ntlabati claimed the resident, who owns a B&B in the area, stood in front of the truck and pointed a gun at him.

She allegedly demanded that he stop the truck and go to her yard to collect the refuse himself.

We had already collected the refuse on her street and she had not put her refuse outside, but she expected us to somehow know we should come back to her house

“We had already collected the refuse on her street and she had not put her refuse outside, but she expected us to somehow know we should come back to her house.

“It seemed that she even wanted us to come inside her house to collect her refuse, which is against the policies of the municipality,” Ntlabati said.

“I was so shocked and my colleagues were terrified.

“She said if I move the truck or drive off she would shoot me,” he alleged.

“I stopped the truck immediately. I called my supervisor and gave her the phone.

“She forced me to collect her refuse at gunpoint.

“She even said if I try to drive off, she will shoot the tyres of the truck and both me and my colleagues,” Ntlabati alleged.

After he had collected her refuse and driven off, Ntlabati went straight to the Addo police station to report the matter.

“I told the police where she works. To my surprise, they knew exactly who I was talking about and [allegedly] said this was not the first time that she had held a black person at gunpoint.

I told her I would open a case with the police because she has no right pointing a firearm at me

“I told her I would open a case with the police because she has no right pointing a firearm at me,” he said, adding that after the incident, he stopped working for the day because he was traumatised.

Ntlabati said all he wanted was justice so that the resident could know how to treat municipal workers.

“The police promised to arrest her. I am now waiting for their feedback,” he said.

The businesswoman cannot be named as she could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Provincial police spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni said there has been not arrests yet and that the investigation continues.

DispatchLIVE