The Department of Water and Sanitation has referred to as on regulation enforcement companies to depart no stone unturned to apprehend the criminals accountable for the abduction and hijacking of 2 engineers shriveled by way of the Mhlathuze Water Board remaining week.

According to the dept, the engineers had been running to revive water infrastructure in Mntikini in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal.

“Mhlathuze Water reported that the engineers from Ziyanda Consulting had been engaging in a web site inspection of a water garage tank and a pump station once they had been accosted by way of unknown males sporting weapons.

“They were then hijacked and held hostage for nearly six hours at a nearby forest. The engineers were also robbed of some important belongings such as laptops and bank cards,” the dept mentioned in a observation.

Mhlathuze Water used to be appointed by way of Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, as an enforcing agent in February 2022, to take over the control, operations and upkeep of the water and sanitation infrastructure in uMkhanyakude District Municipality to verify the entire recovery of products and services.

Department spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa, mentioned the dept condemns the incident and calls on individuals of the group to paintings with regulation enforcement companies to track and apprehend the suspects.

“The department condemns in the strongest terms this criminal incident that involved the hijacking of expert engineers while on duty. This act of crime not only affects the workers, but it also negatively affects the community of Mntinkini because the water restoration project that was supposed to benefit all affected residents will be delayed due to safety concerns,” Mavasa mentioned.