Two Eskom employees and a minibus taxi driver were arrested after being discovered with the taxi loaded with copper cable on June 18.

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The culprits were caught at the Eskom warehouse in Rosherville in Germiston.

The suspects, two of whom work as contracted security guards for Eskom, were caught by Eskom internal security personnel while they were on duty at the crime scene.

This comes after an investigation that was carried out after the Rosherville utility’s warehouse minibus cab was seen driving toward the backdoor.

The middle manager for safety, health, environment and quality in Eskom, Kith Maitisa, said that it is regrettable that two of their contractor guards are charged with theft of material they are employed to protect and look after.

They have over and above the criminal proceedings barred the suspects from entering all Eskom sites.

“We are most impressed with the level of alertness and quick reaction by our in-house security officials in foiling this planned theft.

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We hope that this will send a strong message to criminals, especially those within, that we are wide alert to safeguard the assets of Eskom to ensure that our mandate to provide electricity is not interfered with,” said Maitisa.

According to the statement released by Ronel Kotze, the Eskom internal security told them that the minibus taxi was parked outside the storeroom with the Eskom cable inside with the taxi driver inside.

The cable is believed to have been cut into substantial pieces by the two suspects throughout the night so that it could fit inside a minibus taxi.

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SAPS apprehended the individuals, who were then accused of stealing vital infrastructure and impounded the minibus taxi they believed was used to transfer the stolen cable.

The three suspects were denied bail after their first appearance in court on June 20.