According to management, on 12 March a senior security officer at the estate apprehended a suspected cable thief at the corner of Bushwillow and Uranium roads.
According to them, while on a routine electric fence check for the estate, the senior officer noticed that the traffic lights were not working at 9.40pm but were working at 9.30pm. He then noticed that there were two men standing next to the traffic lights who were acting like they were begging. The security officer felt this was unusual due to the hour and the way they were dressed. When the officer stopped to talk to the men, one suspect immediately ran off down Uranium Road.
The officer then noticed a box cutter and hacksaw lying on the ground. He apprehended the other suspect and contacted the control room, estate management and police.
The suspect was taken to the security company’s control room while the police were en route to the scene. There he was questioned by the officer and he revealed his identity and that he was from Msawawa informal settlement.
According to estate management, two Douglasdale police officers arrived in a Ford Ranger but when they assessed the scene, they informed both the security company and the estate management that a case could only be opened by City Power, since it was their property that was damaged and, therefore, the police would not take the suspect into custody. The security company refused to let the suspect go and kept him in their control room overnight.
At 9am the next morning, a police vehicle arrived and took the suspect into custody. According to Douglasdale police the suspect has been charged with malicious damage to property.
With regards to the police officers refusing to arrest the suspect, Warrant Officer Balan Muthan said disciplinary action is being taken against both officers who responded to the scene on 12 March as they should have been aware that security companies or even police officers themselves had the right to open a case on City Power’s behalf.
Muthan thanked the security company and Fourways Gardens Estate management for their sterling work in the fight against crime.
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