City Power has seen an increase in the number of people arrested for vandalism and cable theft during the lockdown.
In the four weeks since lockdown was announced, City Power security arrested about 25 people between March 26 and April 26.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the 25 arrests include cable theft, vandalism and illegal connections.
“These are the crimes that City Power battles with annually costing the City of Johannesburg millions in revenue. Under normal circumstances City Power records about 10 arrests monthly, making this an almost 150 per cent increase,” he said.
The majority of those arrested were found in possession or aluminum and copper cables, and breaking into substations.”
Among the contributing factors to the increase in arrests include the high vigilance of security teams decrease in mobility due to lockdown, which has increased the detection of criminal activities before they happen, active citizenry where the community reported these crimes to us, and collaborative efforts with the JMPD, SAPS, and other law enforcement agencies, which we are thankful for,” said City Power’s head of security Sgt Thela.
“We expect the high probability of an increase in vandalism and cable theft as the lockdown moves to Level 4 and industries like recyclers and sharp metal dealers reopen,” said Thela.
“City Power will ramp up patrols and vigilance by our security and other law enforcement agencies to ensure these crimes are curbed.”
Report cable theft and vandalism to 011 490 7900/7811.
