A Municipal worker was attacked and killed while attending to a complaint about a blocked sewerage pipe in Palm Springs on the East Rand on Easter Sunday.

Taelo Kekana was part of a six-man team on stand-by on the Easter weekend.

When it was called out to a complaint in Palm Springs, four men attacked the team.

The group were inspecting the blockage and Kekana was killed by the four men.

Another worker, Samuel Manje, was wounded on the head.

"Manje had a huge gash on his head, but thankfully he has been discharged from hospital and is at home recovering," Ekurhuleni mayoral spokesman Zweli Dlamini told Sowetan.

"We are still unclear as to how events unfolded and what really happened when they were there but we are continuing the investigation," said Dlamini.

Patrick Kekana, Taelo's eldest brother, was devastated by the news. "I am so disappointed and sad. He was the breadwinner in the family and I was also depending on him. He was just a normal, decent human who died on duty," he said.

Kekana's family were visited on Monday by Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele, chief operations officer Dr Imogen Mashazi and member of mayoral committee for water and energy Doctor Xhakaza.

"This is extremely senseless and must be strongly condemned by all the citizens of the city," Gungubele said. "In fact, we are still trying to make sense of this incident. Workers attend to a sewer blockage in an area and before they know it they are attacked and a life is lost.

"What do you make of such an incident?

"Such attacks can result in our teams protesting against working in certain areas for fear of their lives - thus impacting on service delivery," said Gungubele.

appasamyy@sowetan.co.za