City Power infrastructure worth R80 million, which had been stolen by sub-contractors, was seized by the City of Johannesburg after a member of the public tipped off its famed anti-corruption unit.
The City’s Group Forensic Investigation Department worked with City Power engineers and the South Africa police.
Search warrants were issued to search 10 properties in Midrand, Kempton Park, Aeroton and Winchester Hills.
Transformers, warning boards, overhead lines, street light fittings, fuses, circuit breakers, joint boxes, termination kits, street lights and street poles were found there. The equipment had apparently never been returned by sub-contractors after projects were completed.
MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Nico de Jager, said some transformers found their way to KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
“Some of these contractors collude with officials from City Power and receive surplus material which they use for contracts outside Johannesburg.”
The MMC said that when infrastructure is stolen, the economy and City are sabotaged. “They deprive residents… of the quality of service they deserve.”
The inner city was recently plunged into darkness for days after cables were stolen. Copper cable theft in Joburg has caused financial strain for the power utility for years.
In the 2016/17 fiscal year alone, City Power had to fork out R76 million to combat this crime. Around 2 000 incidents of theft and vandalism were recorded in the same period.
De Jager recently revealed that the City has over 17 000km of underground copper cable.
“This cannot be replaced overnight.”
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