City Power, through a media release, welcomed the arrest of two scrapyard owners in Roodepoort on Friday, July 8 for being in possession of stolen cables.
They were among the six suspects who were arrested in separate incidents by City Power security and the SAPS Essential Infrastructure Task Team the day before.
The raid by the police on Horn Scrap Metal Dealer in Roodepoort came after a tip-off about copper cables that were at the premises.
City Power technical experts were called to the scene where they positively identified the infrastructure that included copper cables and busbars often stolen from vandalised mini-substations.
Busbars are electrical conductors maintained at a specific voltage and capable of carrying a high current, usually used to make a common connection between several circuits in a system.
According to City Power, the recovered cables are worth just under a quarter of a million rand.
The two suspects were taken in and charged by the Roodepoort police, and will appear in court soon.
“As we intensify the war on cable theft, we hope the law will take its course to ensure this serves as a warning to other scrapyard dealers whom we are planning on visiting soon.
“We appeal to anyone with information on this crime to contact the police in 10111, or City Power Risk Control on 011 490 7900 or WhatsApp us on 083 579 4497,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.