JOHANNESBURG – The drive to root out corruption within City Power is starting to bear fruit, following the suspension of six employees for the theft of drums of cable worth R4,5 million at the Randburg depot.
The arrest of these employees, who comprise four electricians and two team leaders, follows a thorough audit and inventory of cable equipment. The utility embarked on this exercise after it detected some discrepancies in its inventory. Each of the cable drums stolen carries cable that is 300 meters long. The suspects will be charged with fraud and theft.
City Power Managing Director Sicelo Xulu says investigations are under way to determine whether the employees have links with organised crime syndicates. He expects that as the investigations unfold more arrests will follow.
“These arrests are part of our anti-corruption drive that seeks to rid the utility of criminal elements. This year we have seen a significant spike in cable theft and corrupt practices, and in some of these incidents our contractors and employees were implicated. We are working with external parties to also tighten up our internal controls in order to enhance operational efficiencies. This entails tightening up our internal processes to close the loopholes and address existing weaknesses in the system,” says Xulu.
The theft of cables and vandalism of electricity equipment have plunged many neighbourhoods in darkness earlier this year, and cost the utility and businesses millions of rands. Xulu says the utility is encouraged by the success the utility has achieved thus far, but says that more work still needs to be done to make cable theft a thing of the past.
Since City Power embarked on this anti-corruption and anti-cable theft, approximately 227 suspects have been arrested and the conviction rate stands at an impressive 86 per cent.
“City Power cannot win this battle alone without the support of its employees, contractors and communities it serves. We urge and encourage our stakeholders to continue to work with us in order to deal a decisive blow to this scourge of cable theft and corruption. The vandalism of electricity infrastructure and theft of electricity is not a crime against City Power alone, but it is an offense against all the law abiding citizens and ratepayers in Johannesburg,” Xulu concludes.
