One City Power technician was also assaulted during the hijacking. Picture: Roodepoort Record
Regional Power utility City Power has warned it will not hesitate to withdraw its technicians from hostile areas if they continue to be attacked.
This comes after a group of City Power employees were hijacked while on duty in Lenasia South on Tuesday, 18 July.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the crew members were attending to a call from a customer about a faulty meter when they were attacked.
“While one technician was verifying the address, the rest of the crew − one male and two females − in the two vans were hijacked. The cars were later found abandoned in Lawley and near Meriting Squatter Camp in Lenasia South. The three crew members managed to make their way to the police station.
“While the news of the hijacking is alarming, it highlights the increased risks our employees are exposed to in their line of duty. This year alone our teams have been held at gunpoint, robbed of cellphones, laptops, toolboxes, hijacked and injured to a point of hospitalisation – all while servicing the communities in Joburg,” Mangena said.
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He said one male crew member was physically assaulted while the two females were left physically unharmed.
“The employees were also robbed of their phones, bags and toolboxes, and they were also made to transfer money from their bank accounts.”
Mangena said City Power will ensure that the employees’ emotional and physical wellbeing is prioritised.
“A case of hijacking and kidnapping has been opened at the local police station. We would like to appeal to communities to rally around our employees as they try to ensure that City Power continues to render electricity services to the same communities and attend to calls.
“While we have an option to request escorts from JMPD to enable us to render service to the communities, this is unsustainable and costly, and may affect our response times to outages in hostile areas. City Power will not hesitate to pull out its teams from any areas where their safety is not guaranteed,” said Mangena.
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