Eskom guards employed to look after Bynes substation in Papierbas Avenue, Cullinan, were held hostage on Tuesday after a group of armed suspects entered the substation.

The incident at the substation in the east of Pretoria happened at 22:00.

The utility’s Gauteng spokesperson, Amanda Qithi, told Pretoria Rekord that according to the information at hand, a group of about 30 suspects entered the substation through the high voltage yard from the western direction.

“They broke the padlock and kicked the gate inside the yard while firing warning shots.”

Qithi says one Eskom employee was conducting patrol operations of the substation area, while the other observed what was unfolding from the guardhouse.

She explains the guard at the guardhouse managed to immediately press the panic button and alerted the control room to send backup.

“Rhinoforce armed reaction responded, but they were overpowered by the suspects as they were shooting randomly at them. They left the site and went to the police station to request backup.”

Qithi says while the reaction team waited for backup, the suspects continued making threats. “The suspects continued making threats using the hand radio saying they would kill the officers if the police came.”

According to Qithi, the police did not immediately attend to the scene at the substation, as they requested other police vehicles for backup.

She adds that police vehicles from various departments eventually arrived after the reaction team called for backup, however, they did not find the suspects on site.

“According to the officers, the suspects were looking for batteries, but they left without them.”

Qithi says the suspects fled with only four cellphones, a hand radio and the officers’ bags containing their wallets.

She adds no arrests have been made, while the employees suffered minor injuries to their hands after they were pushed on the ground.

Police are yet to comment on the matter.