Eleven suspects, who are allegedly part of a cable theft syndicate, were arrested yesterday after brazenly entering a substation in Laudium, Tshwane, and allegedly attempting to steal electricity transformers.

A Tshwane municipal employee was among those arrested at the Claudius substation.

Police spokesperson Johan Van Dyk says police officers found trucks and cranes on the scene and a Tshwane metro-branded truck.

He says a 40-ton lowbed truck was seen leaving the premises carrying a transformer.

“When the truck and crane operators were approached, they stated that they had been hired to remove and transport the transformers to Middelburg, Mpumalanga.”

Van Dyk says they confirmed they were employed by a private transport company.

He says the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department’s (TMPD) Cable Theft Unit assisted with the preliminary investigation.

“It was established that no official authorisation had been granted for the removal of the transformers, nor had the transformers been sold.”

Van Dyk says further enquiries revealed that a metro employee, who was present with a City of Tshwane vehicle, allegedly made unauthorised arrangements with a private party to remove the transformers.

“It was discovered that the official had unlocked the national key point to facilitate access for the private company.”

Phiri Phiri Security personnel, who are responsible for guarding the premises, confirmed that the city official brought the trucks and cranes onto the premises to facilitate the removal.

Van Dyk says it was also established that the private company visited the site the previous day, in the presence of the same metro official.

“Investigations are ongoing to determine what else may have been removed.

“The transformers, valued at approximately R35m, were tampered with and removed, causing an additional estimated R5m in damages,” says Van Dyk.

He adds that a case of tampering with essential infrastructure and theft has been opened.

Van Dyk says eleven suspects were arrested and four lowbed trucks, two 50-ton crane trucks, one Nissan UD 20-ton truck, two Suzuki Carry bakkies, one Mahindra bakkie, and one Volkswagen Caddy bakkie were confiscated.

Community commended

Tshwane metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba says the arrests were made possible by community members who noticed an employee from the city’s Energy and Electricity Department and his associates arriving with a fleet of marked and unmarked trucks.

“The trucks were equipped with an assortment of equipment, including an expensive crane.”

Bokaba says the syndicate had already removed two MVA transformers from the plinth, with one more already dismantled and awaiting to be loaded onto a flatbed truck.

“What raised the community’s suspicion was that the city had not issued any notice of maintenance at the substation, and there was power supply in the area.”

He says community members promptly contacted the TMPD Cable Theft Unit and the SAPS.

Bokaba says the law enforcement agencies swiftly responded and apprehended a few suspects, including the Tshwane employee.

However, some of the other suspects managed to flee.

Billions lost

“The city has suffered significant financial losses, with billions lost in the past due to theft and vandalism of infrastructure by well-organised syndicates.”

He says the syndicates wouldn’t have been able to conduct such massive thefts without the help of the city’s employees.

Tshwane City Manager Johann Mettler expressed his outrage at the alleged involvement of a metro employee in the crime.

“I would like to issue a stern warning to other employees who are colluding with criminals that their days are numbered. We will nail them one by one,” he says.

Mettler praised the community’s actions and stated that these are the kinds of partnerships that the metro should forge with communities.

“Government on its own can’t combat this crime phenomenon without the community being our eyes and ears.

“We have always maintained that the infrastructure does not belong to the municipality, but to the community.”

He says it is there to provide services to communities, and therefore the community should always guard it.

“This community was brave enough to contact law enforcement after noticing a strange occurrence at the substation, and we implore communities across all seven regions of the city to do so as well.”