SAPS spokesperson Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said a case of theft has been opened after the alleged theft of cables and steel at the Power Park Building.
According to Chief Operating Officer (City of Joburg) Kululwa Muthwa Orlando Power station was decommissioned in 1998 and the City of Joburg Property Company SOC Ltd (JPC) has been trying to facilitate its redevelopment as part of a larger development project over the past 10 years.
According to Muthwa redevelopment plans culminated into an award being made by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CoJ) to the Soweto Power Station Mall Pty Ltd (SPSM).
The building was handed over to SPSM in January 2012.
“In order to alleviate the rampant theft of the structural steel the developer has had the site fenced off four times but the fencing has consistently been stolen, including electrified fencing,” he said.
Mark Brown of SPSM said a full time security was also employed to guard the site and thieves were regularly arrested.
“The problem is that as fast as the thieves were arrested they were released and were back in the building,” he said.
According to Brown at least 25 arrests were made and the steel on site attracted lawlessness which was impossible to manage.
“The site was re-fenced last month and the fence was again removed.
The thieves even used old abandoned tunnels to gain access to the building.
On many occasions our guard’s lives were threatened,” he said.
He added that the incident is a great loss and disappointment for the development and we truly believe the building could have been something special.
