Three people were arrested and a truck carrying stolen electrical cable worth about R1.2m was confiscated in Alberton on February 13.
The city’s Anti-Cable Theft Task Team and a private security company intercepted a truck just before it left with the cable from the city’s stores in Alberton.
A case of theft was opened at Alberton SAPS.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, said: “Among the three suspects is an employee who works as a clerk at Alberton stores. This makes the situation even worse because we expect our employees to protect municipal infrastructure at all times.”
He said preliminary investigations show that the employee issued fraudulent documents for the release of the cable from the stores.
“Cable theft is a major problem for the city and we spend millions on security companies to patrol and monitor our infrastructure. A lot of money also goes towards replacing stolen cables,” he explained.
Dlamini reiterated that the city is losing more than R90m per year due to cable theft.
The trio appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on February 19 and were denied bail.
They are currently detained in Boksburg Prison and the municipal official will also face an internal disciplinary process.
