Information received indicate that on the evening of September 14 two men allegedly tried to steal cables at a substation on Kruger Road in Boksburg East, and plunged nearby households and businesses into darkness.
Local authorities have not yet shared details on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
However, information obtained through well-placed sources suggests that the pair dug a hole through the wall of the substation to gain entry, apparently to steal the cable.
After the power went off, Du Plessis Road community members rushed to the power station to check as to what had affected the electricity supply in their area.
The residents who had gone to the substation to investigate noticed a man exiting the facility through the hole. He tried to escape, but they caught him and called the police and their ward councillor, Marius de Vos.
When asked for comment, de Vos said he managed to get hold of an EMPD officer who rushed to the scene and arrested the culprit.
“Technicians from the energy depot also responded to the power outage and they got into the substation to discover the body of the man lying on the floor next to the high voltage electrical equipment,” explained de Vos.
The ward councillor lamented the power infrastructure’s vulnerability, saying criminals are having a field day in Ekurhuleni as they help themselves to cables, copper equipment in substations and metal ranging from drain covers to steel electrical posts.
“Both business and households are bearing the brunt of these criminal acts. The manufacturing industry in Anderbolt and Boksburg East are losing out on production time daily as these criminals have no regard for municipal and private property,” lamented de Vos.
De Vos pointed out that officials were working with the police to investigate what happened and who the dead man was.
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