A manager of a factory bottling mineral water in Juba was shot and killed during a robbery Monday night, police said.

Police Spokesman Daniel Justin told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday afternoon that the incident took place at the Gudele 2 neighborhood when armed robbers broke into Oasis water factory near a police station.

The Police spokesman identified the victim as 71-year-old Wodiseon Jedy. “It was on Monday when he was attacked in his compound in Gudele 2, and we have not yet apprehended anybody. However, we have opened a case and investigations are ongoing,” said Justin.

“The water factory manager was shot and succumbed to gunshot wounds at a private hospital in the Atlabara neighborhood on Tuesday at around 2 pm,” he added.

Reacting to the incident, Edmund Yakani, a renowned civil society activist, condemned the killing of the Oasis water factory manager by unknown armed men in Juba. He urged the police to bring the culprits to book as soon as possible.

“This issue of armed robberies which was witnessed in the past is on the rise again, especially attacks against boda-boda riders across the country. The government needs to strengthen security and policing measures in the face of the economic hardship,” he said.

 Yakani, who is also the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said the delay of salaries for civil servants and armed forces is likely to cause insecurity in the capital Juba.

“Fixing the economic situation in a structural approach is the only way forward and it is an essential approach for durable solutions,” he concluded.

The South Sudanese Pound has hit a new low of 1,603 SSP against the US dollar in the central bank as concerns mount over scarcity of the US currency and its impact on the country's economy.

This comes after one of South Sudan's critical oil pipelines to international markets, which passes through war-torn Sudan, was damaged last month.

The rupture happened in an area controlled by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been fighting the Sudanese army for power since April last year.