Theft – around 00:05 at night, a supervisor noticed that one of the workers holding a hacksaw was entering the store room. He notified the security. The guard went to investigate, upon which he found the worker in the act of cutting a copper cable. The worker was arrested and detained. Armed response and police were alerted. The worker was taken away by the police.

A few days before the incident, the patrol guard noticed that a truck, which was loaded with pallets, had an unusual height. The normal pallets are supposed to be 105 x 10 kg, but two of them were 112 x 10 kg each. The guard became suspicious and carried the information over to the day-shift guard to ensure that he checks the bags when the truck leaves the premises. The truck left the following day. When it got to the gate, the day-shift guard noticed that there were 14 x 10 kg extra bags loaded onto the truck. The extra bags had to be offloaded before the truck could leave the premises.

Theft is viewed as a serious disciplinary offence by the justice system and normally justifies dismissal at first instance, regardless of the value of the property involved. It is not determined or compromised by the employee’s the length of service served, the absence (where applicable) of prior warnings, whether the property stolen was subsequently returned or even if the employee maintained no direct benefit from such theft. The sanction of summary dismissal for theft, as such, is seen in most employers’ disciplinary codes in the workplace.

If you require assistance with safety and security, tactical and armed response, and more, do not hesitate to contact the South African Association of Unified Security today. We are here to fight crime and make South Africa a safer place.