City Power halts services in Vezinyawo in Alexandra

City Power has suspended all electricity restoration work in Vezinyawo in Alexandra after residents allegedly held the utility’s technicians hostage.

The regional power utility said technicians were in the area on Monday to restore services when the incident unfolded.

‘Criminal actions’

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena condemned the “criminal actions” of individuals who held technicians hostage and obstructed their work during an operation to install and register electricity meters.

“During the operation, several individuals approached and seized the keys to three City Power contractor vehicles, demanding that power be restored before the keys would be returned.

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“One suspect fled the scene with the keys, deliberately sabotaging our ability to continue working and severely compromising the safety of our employees,” Mangena said.

Cases opened

Mangena added that the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), police, security services and tow trucks were called to move the stranded bakkies to the nearest City Power Service Delivery Centre (SDC).

“Our technicians have since opened hijacking cases at Saps, and the matter is now under police investigation.

“We want to reiterate that City Power will not proceed with any restoration work or any other services in Vezinyawo until all meters are installed, registered, and the working environment is secured for our employees and contractors,” Mangena said.

Cooperation

City Power CEO, Tshifularo Mashava, warned that criminality and intimidation of their staff will not be tolerated.

“We are committed to enforcing the rule of law and protecting our employees who work daily under difficult and often dangerous conditions to bring services to communities.”

Mashava called on community leaders, residents and law enforcement to work with City Power to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

“Incidents like this have already disadvantaged other communities, including parts of Alexandra, where City Power has had to suspend night-time outage responses due to threats against our teams.”

Warning

Mangena warned that if the situation in Vezinyawo is not addressed urgently, similar service limitations will be implemented, severely affecting residents’ access to electricity services.

“City Power will not compromise on the installation and registration of prepaid meters and normalisation of meters in any area. It is either the community allows us to normalise meters, or we suspend services, like we have done in areas like Riverpark (Alexandra), Rabie Ridge and Naturena.”

Mangena said that while in some areas, like Rabie Ridge and Naturena, residents initially resisted meter installations but eventually came forward to cooperate, services in Riverpark, including Vezinyawo, remain suspended until full cooperation is achieved.  

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