A municipal employee working in the cemeteries department has filed a crimen injuria complaint with police against a well-known Nelson Mandela Bay businessman after he allegedly called her a “white c**t” and threatened to deal with her.
Vuyo Vantyi, the owner of Vantyi and Vantyi Funeral Undertakers, allegedly swore at senior cemetery supervisor Sharon du Toit after she blocked him last week from carrying out further burials due to a debt of R165,000 owed to the municipality for grave sites.
Vantyi has a monthly contract with the municipality to bury the city’s paupers.
Vantyi also allegedly told Du Toit that she thought the land belonged to her, that “her type” should not be working at the municipality and that he would make sure she stopped.
“He said he will be coming for me and I will see what he is going to do to me,” Du Toit said.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Majola Nkohli said: “Police are investigating a case of crimen injuria.”
Du Toit said she was aggrieved by the businessman’s conduct as she had simply been following procedure.
In e-mails seen by The Herald, Du Toit informed her managers that her department had been trying unsuccessfully for two years to get Vantyi and Vantyi to pay all outstanding amounts or face immediate suspension.
Du Toit alleged that the undertakers also did not register the paupers they buried for the department of environmental health.
Cemeteries bylaws and burial policy say the cemetery official must be supplied with the paperwork, including the section and number of the grave site, for all burials.
In one of the e-mails Du Toit sent to public health acting executive director Tsietsi Mokonenyane and acting director of cemeteries Gregory Kops on Monday, she said: “After numerous [unsuccessful] attempts over two years [to get] Zwide Funerals aka Vantyi and Vantyi to register NMBM paupers, it should be known that Zwide Funerals is blocked as of today [Monday last week].”
Du Toit claimed that Kops had given her permission to do this.
Kops, asked for comment, directed queries to the communications office.
Vantyi and Vantyi owes the municipality R165,570, according to papers The Herald has seen.
“He owes the municipality a lot of money,” Du Toit said.
Vantyi said that as far as he was aware Mokonenyane had already explained everything to the newspaper.
“I know nothing about what this woman [Du Toit] is saying. She’s fabricating stories about me,” he said.
“Am I expected to answer to The Herald every time someone says something about me?
“Is yours to advertise fabrications about me?
“I’m very disappointed that you, as a black reporter, are writing such about me – fabrications from a white [woman],” Vantyi said.
The Herald is aware that Vantyi personally called Mokonenyane, who instructed the staff to unblock Vantyi and Vantyi on Thursday.
Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said details of how much Vantyi and Vantyi owed the municipality and how much of the debt had been paid would only be available on Tuesday.
“An investigation is under way and we’ll only know the details once it’s concluded,” he said.