The Tshwane metro has expressed its strong condemnation of the recent attack on a metro technician based in Soshanguve.

In a statement, the metro states that a systems operator based at the Soshanguve depot was hijacked and held hostage by unknown assailants.

“The alleged perpetrators drove around with him and tried to force him to energise areas in the northern parts of Soshanguve that were experiencing a power outage,” the metro says.

The operator was fortunate enough to escape his captors and the metro extended its gratitude for his efforts.

“The City strongly condemns this criminal behaviour in any part of the municipality and the perpetrators of this despicable behaviour should know the consequences of their actions. All teams operating from the Soshanguve depot have been grounded to safeguard the plant, equipment and personnel,” the metro continues.

The metro states that the continuous harassment and robberies of their officials on duty will only harm residents as service delivery will be hindered.

Residents are called upon to protect these officials when they are called out to do infrastructure maintenance in their area.

“The City appeals to members of the community to cease intimidating, assaulting and threatening its officials and/or damaging the City’s assets and infrastructure components. If some sections of the community continue with this thuggish behaviour, they will make it difficult for our officials to respond to service delivery interruptions.”

Security personnel from the Tshwane Metro Police Department have been requested to patrol Soshanguve Block KK and Soshanguve Block F Depots to prevent any further attacks.