City Power said it has recorded a concerning rise in infrastructure-related crimes in the city since July, with 142 people already arrested.

The power utility said these incidents have been more noticeable in certain parts of the inner city and in areas such as Alexandra, among others.

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“The reported incidents also involve forged or misused wayleaves, unauthorised subcontracting, and internal collusion,” the utility’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, said.

He stressed that these breaches have had a dire impact on the utility and residents. They have contributed to prolonged outages, financial losses amounting to millions of rands, and increased safety risks for residents and businesses.

These concerns follow the arrest of six men linked to City Power’s contractor, who were taken into custody on December 16 in Fordsburg after they were found tampering with the utility’s infrastructure.

“What makes this incident particularly disturbing is that those apprehended were operating under the cover of a legitimate contractor assignment. Although this does not come as a surprise, as we have always believed that the problem of theft and vandalism involves internal and external role players, this incident remains one of the worst betrayals of public trust we have encountered,” Mangena said.

He added that criminal activity carried out by people linked to a contracted entity undermines service delivery, puts the community in danger, and affects the integrity of the electricity supply chain.

The utility’s CEO, Tshifularo Mashava, said City Power will not tolerate such criminality, especially when it involves individuals connected to contractors.

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City Power has previously expressed concern about the possible involvement of individuals within their ranks in infrastructure-related crimes in areas such as Alexandra and Lombardy East. Mangena noted that the vandalism of essential infrastructure, including Ground Mounted Transformers (GMTs) and other key switching equipment, suggested a certain level of sophistication.

In response to the recent incident, Mashava said the involvement of contractor-linked individuals in infrastructure sabotage is concerning and represents a gross violation of trust.

“The arrest of these individuals highlights the success of our turnaround strategy aimed at addressing energy losses caused by vandalism, theft, and illegal connections, among others.”

City Power said that since the beginning of the year, it has strengthened its security measures by expanding armed patrols in high-risk areas, coordinating more closely with law enforcement agencies, and enforcing stricter verification of work orders and wayleaves.

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