City Power faces a high number of theft and vandalism

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that the Randburg Service Delivery Centre (SDC) welcomes the arrest of two suspects found in possession of stolen cables in Kya Sand, Randburg.

Copper cables weighing approximately 400kg with an estimated value of R500 000 were found in a scrap metal dealer on Volt Crescent.

The combined efforts by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Tactical Response Unit together with the SAPS Johannesburg Organised Crime Unit and Gauteng Traffic Police led to the arrest.

Mangena explained that the utility currently faces a high number of thefts and vandalism of infrastructure around the City of Johannesburg.

“The Randburg SDC recently launched the Electricity Infrastructure Security campaign, calling on residents, businesses, security personnel, and neighbourhood watch to join forces to eradicate the scourge of infrastructure theft and vandalism that is robbing people of their livelihood leaving them in the dark for extended periods.”

According to Mangena, theft and vandalism cases have cost the City of Johannesburg R113m in the past financial year (July 2022 – June 2023), of which R8 million was spent in the Randburg SDC alone.

“We encourage members of the public to report any suspected criminal activities that pose a threat to our network.”

To guard the network, the community must ask the following questions to any City Power employee or contractor:

• Job card for that day
• Job wayleave if they are digging
• CP valid ID
• Take registration number down
• Who at City Power employed them

If none of those can be presented, then risk management should be informed immediately. Any illegal activities can be reported directly to City Power’s risk control team, which is available 24/7:

011 490 7553
011 490 7900

WhatsApp number +27835794497.

When using WhatsApp, simply send the location and pictures of any evidence available.

Related Article: 400kg of copper recovered in Kya Sands