Police in Port Elizabeth are investigating a case of murder after a security guard was stabbed and killed while on duty on Tuesday night.
Captain Andre Beetge says 38-year-old Sivuyile Mtshizana, who works as a guard for EnviroServ Waste Management, was stabbed by a young man who had just cut a hole through the fence with his accomplice to pick up discarded sweets.
Beetge says all kinds of waste is discarded at EnviroServ, including chocolates from a factory in Port Elizabeth which may not be sold to the public.
He says in the past, community members from Motherwell, Ikamvelihle, and Missionvale would illegally enter the site to collect this candy in order to melt it and make fudge.
Most of the time the culprits are children.
On Tuesday night, two suspects, also believed to be teenagers, cut a hole in the fence in order to gather chocolates when Mtshizana and his colleague went to investigate.
Captain Beetge says they were about to make an arrest when one of the youths pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Mtshizana in his side.
The suspects ran away and are still at large.
Police have meanwhile urged communities not to consume any food products that they pick up from any landfill site.
EnviroServ makes use of toxic products to break down their waste and therefore all waste, including chocolate and other sweets, could be deadly if consumed.
A case or murder is under investigation.
