Two arrested for City Power infrastructure theft and damage in Northcliff substation.
The power utility had to replace a transformer on Joseph Street in Northcliff after cables were stolen by criminals.
Theft and vandalism of a City Power 500 KVA indoor transformer left many residents in Northcliff without electricity while repairs were carried out.
A new transformer was installed nearly two days after the theft.
Spokesperson for City Power Isaac Mangena says, “Medium voltage and low voltage cables were stolen when the vandalism happened.”
Dr Gulam Karim, chair of the Fairland CPF says, “I can confirm that two men were arrested for having possession of City Power infrastructure. They were both undocumented and come from Zimbabwe and Malawi respectively. They have been charged with destroying infrastructure. They will also be profiled to see if they are linked to any other criminal activity.”
He said a repair of this nature is normally done within a couple of hours if all the materials and required resources are readily available.
“City Power has experienced increased levels of theft and vandalism in recent weeks. The challenge is that it’s becoming difficult to replace infrastructure against the current rate of theft and vandalism.”
When asked about the costs involved, he said, “The costs associated with repairing a vandalised chamber vary depending on the size and the extent of the damage. Replacing the stolen cables and vandalised indoor transformer, such as the one in question, could cost R500 000.”
There are various measures City Power has put in place to try and prevent this. “A central stream of efforts is going into trying to change policies that relate to the sale of scrap metal. We believe that this would tilt the scale considerably and we are continuously working on increasing security and employing the latest technology in monitoring our vast network.”
City Power is trying to work with businesses and communities through a programme where key infrastructure such as transformers are adopted and kept safe.
“We are also working closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure that when arrests are made, they have strong prosecutable cases. We have also called on the judiciary to harden its first when dealing with criminals, who in our view are committing heinous economic crimes. We are calling for harsher criminal sanctions to send a strong message to perpetrators.”
“If residents notice anyone digging or fiddling with City Power infrastructure, even if they are wearing City Power regalia, please contact us to ensure that the work is sanctioned by City Power.”
Mangena says they have launched a new toll-free line dedicated to escalating power supply interruptions exceeding 24 hours for individual calls. This line can also be used for updates on prolonged area outages as well as reporting suspicious activities around our network infrastructure.”
The new toll-free line number is 0800 003 156 and it operates daily from 6:00-18:00. Alternatively, contact City Power Risk Control on 011 490 7900 or 011 490 7911.
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