A Saambou employee, Meis Muller, died in the Pretoria Academic Hospital on Friday after an alleged suicide attempt on Thursday afternoon. Muller was a senior employee in Saambou’s housing finance division. On Thursday, she reportedly asked a colleague to take her home to her townhouse in the Pretoria suburb of Villeria. When they arrived, Muller asked her associate to wait in the car. When after a lengthy period of time she had not returned, the colleague became suspicious and went to look for her. She found Muller on a bed with a bullet wound to the right side of her head. Muller was rushed to the Pretoria Academic Hospital, where she died on Friday afternoon. Corporate communications manager Suzette Plantema said on Saturday she was not in a position to comment on the matter, other than to say that it was ”tragic and unfortunate”. Plantema said mechanisms to assist depressed employees had been put in place about a week ago. ”We are concerned about the well-being of our employees and have therefore made sure that they have access to counselling if they need it,” Plantema said. Saambou Bank was place under curatorship two weeks ago and the future of the institution and its employees is uncertain. -Sapa
Friday February 22, 2002