VANDERBIJPARK – Seven Emfuleni Local Municipality employees who were arrested for allegedly running an illegal electricity reconnection scheme are expected to appear briefly before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court today (August 24).
This comes after five suspects were arrested on Friday by the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Two additional suspects were arrested over the weekend.
According to police, the suspects, who work in the municipality’s revenue and electrical departments, face charges including fraud, theft, and tampering with essential infrastructure.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe explained that preliminary investigations showed the suspects allegedly pretended to be authorised municipal officials who could restore disconnected electricity supplies.
“Clients were allegedly instructed to pay various amounts of money directly into the suspects’ bank accounts in exchange for the illegal reconnection of electricity,” Mathe said
The employees are further accused of reconnecting power supplies without proper municipal authorisation. This led to illegal electricity consumption and reportedly created substantial financial losses for Emfuleni.
Mathe warned that the police would continue targeting officials who abuse their positions for personal gain, adding that the task team will keep working with relevant stakeholders to hold corrupt workers accountable.
