By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Police have arrested a woman who broke into the City of Johannesburg offices on Monday morning.
She was found hiding under a desk, in possession of computer hard drives.
The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) confirmed the incident, saying the suspect had been arrested.
Computer hard drives, memory cards, processors, break-in equipment and voter management device found in her possession have been confiscated.
City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse told eNCA she received a call that the woman had broken in to the metro offices at around 2am, and was caught “in the act” by security officers.
The woman allegedly broke into the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) office, and removed hard drives from at least five computers.
Phalatse said it was suspected the woman was a repeat offender, after a break-in at the same offices on 24 January. In that incident, a woman was caught on CCTV breaking into the city’s legal and development planning departments.
She allegedly tampered with around 50 computers, and stole hardware.
In 2020, a similar incident occurred, but no conviction was secured.
The motive and potential link between the break-ins is yet to be established.