Former Goodyear employees are reportedly being targeted by a syndicate preying on workers who received severance packages following the tyre manufacturer’s closure in August.
At least one suspect has now been arrested in connection with the robbery of an ex-worker in KwaNobuhle.
In recent weeks, a number of employees have allegedly fallen victim to home invasions, with the intruders assaulting them and demanding they transfer large sums of money from their accounts into the bank accounts of alleged syndicate members.
On Sunday, Nelson Mandela Bay district commissioner Major-General Vuyisile Ncata held a meeting with former employees at the LoveLife Centre in KwaNobuhle.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Siphokazi Mawisa said the police were alerted to several incidents of ex-Goodyear employees allegedly being targeted by such criminal syndicates.
“Ncata called for an urgent meeting with the ex-Goodyear employees, stakeholders and police management to get to the bottom of this matter,” Mawisa said.
“Safety tips were also shared with the attendees.
“All the reported case dockets have been collected and are being investigated by a task team.
“The team will concentrate on the investigation of these cases.”
Explaining the modus operandi of the suspects, Mawisa said: “In most cases the victims were forced to transfer money into other bank accounts.
“Some also had to do [ewallet] transfers.
“The ex-employees were also given a cellphone number (082-457-2507) to share any information which may help the police identify the suspects, and help to prevent further incidents.
“Since the establishment of the team, we have not received new incidents and there has also been an arrest in one of the cases.”
A 23-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday, Mawisa said.
However, she could not say whether the suspect had appeared in court yet.
Approached for comment, Ncata said: “We are taking this matter very seriously and also wish to sensitise the communities to keep their money safe and not share their bank balances with strangers or people they do not trust.”
In August, the Goodyear plant in Kariega permanently shut its doors, leading to 907 job losses.
The closure, which caught many by surprise when the announcement was made in June, ended 78 years of production.
After extensive negotiations, unions secured a severance deal which saw each retrenched employee receive a payout.
The workers also got their August salary and 2025 bonus entitlement accrual.
One former Goodyear SA employee, who did not want to be identified, said they were all worried.
“The best is to stay away from Nelson Mandela Bay because everyone there knows we all got a severance package, and most employees have also withdrawn from their provident funds.
“This was also made public knowledge, which made things worse.”
The former worker said he did not think the robberies were random, but rather orchestrated by people “closer to home”.
“Look, the Bay is not big. Especially the town of Kariega.
“We all know each other and where we work or worked.
“It was made public knowledge what each employee would receive.
“I must admit that we are also at fault for discussing our rates while out drinking.
“I have not been a victim but I am scared.
“It is bad out there.”
The worker alleged that since the manufacturer’s closure, at least five more Goodyear employees had been robbed.
“We even had an employee who was [allegedly] shot during a robbery and had to be hospitalised.
“So, yes, I am scared for my life and thinking of moving somewhere where nobody knows me.”
Members of the public have also taken to social media to blame newspapers for reporting on the severance payouts.
Asked if he thought this had had an influence on the robberies, the former employee said it was a combination of matters.
“The Herald was covering the negotiations, but that also kept dangerous people up to date on where we were in the process — and then later when it came to the amounts we received.
“With regards to former workers being ‘flashy with their money’, I understand why.
“I myself have been flashy.
“We needed the trips [away] to destress as we were all stressing about losing our jobs.
“Some of us only have matric, making it difficult to get another job.
“So, yes, we needed to go and get some fresh air.”
Ward 44 councillor Luzuko Ndamse said everyone in the community was concerned about what was happening in the nearby Kariega township of KwaNobuhle.
“It’s not nice hearing about people being held up at gunpoint,” Ndamse said.
“The crime rate is already very high in KwaNobuhle.
“We’re all affected by it.
“We’re leaning on safety and security as well as the police to keep us protected.
“We also want people to move carefully and just be vigilant.”
Safety and security political head Luyanda Lawu said the metro was embarking on a mass recruitment programme in the city to combat crime.
Lawu said an item pertaining to this was before the mayoral committee.
“Our target as safety and security is to increase personnel in the city, especially considering some of our police stations are in the top 20 for the highest number of murder cases,” Lawu said.
“We want to recruit 50 Metro Police officers and staff.
“We want the council to assist us to recruit officers for New Brighton and Kwazakhele.”
Lawu said another goal was to eventually recruit an additional 180 officers for the entire metro.
“There’s already a Metro Police precinct in KwaNobuhle and we want to increase the numbers there.
“This is one way to try to reduce crime.
“There’s no other way to do so other than to recruit more people.
“There’s not much we can to with 126 [Metro Police] officers in a metro with 1.7-million people.
“When you go to Tshwane, there’s more than 5,000 officers.
“There’s nothing more we can do other than recruit.
“We’re trying our best to fight crime but with those measures, I think we’ll be able to say we’re making some headway.”
The Herald
