City Power employee among 3 arrested for cable theft and vandalism

Three people including a City Power employee have been arrested for cable theft and vandalism in Alexandra and Booysens.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the utility’s Infrastructure task team was conducting a joint operation with police, JMPS and Prasa at various scrap metal yards in Bramley, Johannesburg, when the suspects were arrested.

“Two suspects, aged between 30 and 50, were arrested at one of the scrap metal yards during the operation and were found in possession of about 100kg of copper cables belonging to City Power,” he adds.

Mangena says the other two suspects managed to flee the scene.

An intelligence-driven operation by the City Power Security Risk Management Team revealed that some staff members were suspected of cable theft at the salvage yards across the business.

The team followed the trail of one suspect after he was caught on CCTV cameras loading cables from an evidence locker at the Reuven Complex on July 1.

City Power chief executive Tshifularo Mashava says a case of cable theft was opened at the Booysens Police Station. The suspect was arrested and remanded in custody after he appeared in court on Friday.

Mashava adds they expect more officials to be arrested.

Arrests are a deterrent – CEO

City Power says it already recorded over 170 incidents of cable theft and vandalism and over 20 suspects have thus far been arrested.

“We welcome these arrests which will serve as a deterrent to would-be cable thieves. As an entity, we have never ruled out the involvement of some of our employee’s and contractors’ crimes relating to infrastructure crimes such as cable theft and vandalism. We are encouraged by the recent arrests of some of our own which attests to the efficiency of the security measures we have put in place,” explains Tshifularo Mashava.

“We commend the work done by our partners in the security cluster, and the communities who have joined hands with us to curb the scourge of cable theft and vandalism. We call on the scrap metal yards owners to work with us and not against us in this fight against the sale of copper cables,” Mashava adds.

Mashava sats cable theft and vandalism cause unnecessarily protracted disruptions to operations, inconveniences customers and puts the lives of residents at risk.

City Power urges residents to report cable theft, vandalism, or any suspicious activities near their infrastructure to 0800 116 166 or on WhatsApp to 083 579 4497.