The Pan African Parliament (PAP) offices at Gallagher Estate in Midrand were broken into by thugs over the weekend and several items were stolen from the offices of the diplomats. ZiMoja can reveal that two diplomats working at the PAP offices opened two cases of business robbery and break-in at Midrand police station on Monday stating that they found windows of their offices wide open on their return from a weekend break. The official PAP ordinary session of the Sixth Parliament was opened on Monday where Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, representing President Cyril Ramaphosa, gave a keynote speech.

MOZAMBICAN AND NIGERIAN DIPLOMATS FELL VICTIM 

Amongst the victims of the robbery is one Daniel Bucvane, a Mozambican diplomat who said in his police statement, that he lost a laptop worth R64 000 during the break-in. Bucvane said he left his office on Friday the 27 October 2023 around 5 pm and all his office windows and door were closed. However, he said he was shocked to find the window of his office wide open and some documents lying on the floor of his office. He said upon inspection of the office, he discovered that his personal laptop was missing, despite the fact that he left it on top of his office desk. Another diplomat who fell victim to the break-in, according to a police statement seen by ZiMoja, was the Nigerian diplomat Kenney Ikechuku Emeana. The member of the Pan African Parliament said he too had found the windows of his office wide opened on Monday after leaving the office for Angola for an official assignment last week Friday. 

 OFFICES CLUTTERED WITH DOCS

In his police statement, he said all doors were locked and windows were properly closed when he left, but said he was greeted by a cluttered office on his return on Monday, a sign which he said was an indication that someone had forcefully gained access to his office without his knowledge. "Complainant alleged that he left the above-mentioned address on the mentioned date and time to Angola on official assignment and that he made sure that all the doors and windows to the office were properly closed and locked. He further alleged that he came back on 2023/10/30 at 09h35 and found the window wide open. He then rushed to the Midrand police station to report the matter, " reads the statement. The statement shows that some documents, a laptop, and other items that were not mentioned were stolen from the Nigerian diplomat's office. ZiMoja understands that no suspect has been identified in the case and it's not clear if the CCTV cameras were working at the time of the break-in at the premises. Nigerian diplomat Emeana confirmed that he opened the case. He said their documents which he was still to go through were stolen from an envelope box. He said his laptop was spared because he had traveled with it on official assignment. Asked if the CCTV was working at the building, Emeana said the cameras had not been working for a while, and he said it was possible that those who broke in were aware of about them.