The public has come out in support of the man who allegedly held the employees of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) hostage in Durban on Thursday 10 June.
The man is said to be a retired member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). He went on pension at the beginning of the year but has yet to receive his pension pay-out. It is reported that the man stormed into the 12th-floor offices armed with a gun, although he did not draw the weapon. The incident lasted an hour, and no one was harmed.
Social media came out in support of the man, citing terrible levels of service in the public sector as a major cause of many people’s frustrations.
When people demand what’s due to them. You call it a hostage? #DurbanHostage
— Dimpho❤️ (@Sims_Phiwe) June 11, 2021
Government departments are causing a lot of unnecessary stress to people💔#DurbanHostage
— Charity🐬💝💝 Cherroh 💝🐋Mthembu💝🐬 (@CharityCherroh) June 10, 2021
Having dealt with the @GEPF_SA regarding my moms pension , i do Understand this man’s fustration …that department is hell 💔💔💔🚮 #DurbanHostage
— Usenathi💚 (@unathi123) June 10, 2021
@GEPF_SA you pushed the poor man with ur bad service,I’m still waiting it’s been 4 years now @tito_mboweni #DurbanHostage
— 🇿🇦RabelaniN (@Rabear23) June 10, 2021
The incident is similar to past instances where members of the public have expressed their frustration with lack of service by taking matters into their own hands. In 2019, a woman rammed her car into a bank building after a teller refused to help her. In the same year, a KZN family took the drastic action of bringing the corpse of their relative to an insurer’s office following a claim payment dispute.
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