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A scrapyard manager has been arrested in Alexandra for being in possession of stolen City Power copper cables.
The arrest comes after the police raided several scrap metal dealers in Bramley and Alexandra on Thursday.
The utility’s CEO Tshifularo Mashava has welcomed the arrest of the scrapyard manager, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.
“At Maningi Scrap Metals the police recovered several copper cables belonging to City Power which led to the arrest of the manager there. He is booked at Bramley Saps.”
Mangena said the scrap metal manager was one of the five arrests made with the help of the Saps Essential Infrastructure Task Team.
“Others were arrested in different areas including Moffatview, Mondeor and Booysens.”
Mashava said City Power is concerned about the role played by the scrap metal dealers which exacerbates the theft of essential infrastructure.
“We are in a war against cable theft and scrap metal dealers do not assist. In fact, they seem to be part of the problem, and we call on law enforcement officers to intensify the raids across the city. We believe also that a harsher sentence will serve as a deterrent to others who continue to receive stolen copper cables.”
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Meanwhile, City Power on Thursday deployed 52 newly appointed electricians to lessen what it called the entity’s reliance on contractors. The aim of this deployment is also to foster area specific accountability in the Johannesburg power network.
MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Service (EISD) Cllr. Michael Sun said the electricians will be posted in problem-prone sections of the City Power network and assume direct responsibility for sections of the grid.
He said the deployment of the electricians will enable more sustainable solutions to short- and long-term issues based on the in-house electricians’ region-specific experience.
“This will save City Power millions of rands annually in contractor fees and ensure better accountability in the work undertaken on a day-to-day basis,” Sun said.
More electricians will be insourced by City Power in coming months with the aim that a total contingent of 300 electricians to be deployed by mid-2023, Sun added.
“The plan has been six months in the making with over a thousand applications being received for the electrician posts,” Sun concluded.
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