MMC for Environment Infrastructure Services Michael Sun has welcomed the arrest of six suspects for cable theft on February 1.
The suspects, that include four Zimbabweans and two South Africans, had already dug up trenches to access the cables along Cypress Road in Zonnehoewe, Roodepoort, when security pounced after a tip-off from the community.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said they told the security they were contractors doing a job for City Power.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects failed to produce job cards nor City Power ID cards.
“They attempted to bribe the security officers with about R5 000, which the security duly refused. Three suspects fled the scene and were immediately arrested and taken to Honeydew Police Station, where they were charged with damage to, and tampering with, essential infrastructure, bribery, among other crimes,” he said.
A vehicle used by suspects in the commission of the crime was impounded and tools that include two pick-axes, four shovels and a hacksaw were found at the scene and handed over to the police.
City Power acting CEO Tshifularo Mashava praised the collaborative work by the community, the neighbourhood watch and City Power security.
“The issue of cable theft is one of the major contributing factors to the outages we deal with daily across of the City of Johannesburg. We are glad that our security strategy, which includes increasing security patrols in the hot spots, and partnering with local communities structures such as the CPF is bearing fruit.
“We will intensify the fight against cable theft and vandalism, and our focus will include conducting operations at the scrapyards to ensure those who buy these stolen materials are punished,” said Mashava.
City Power has seen several suspects arrested in recent days for cable theft, with the communities playing a central role in the arrests.
City Power spends millions of rands to repair and replace stolen cables and the associated infrastructure.
Sun has given City Power six months to reduce cable theft by at least 20%.
