Fifteen (15) suspects were arrested for cable theft in Joburg over the weekend. Nine of the fifteen are security officers contracted by City Power.
In a statement, City Power admitted there are insiders working with cable thieves.
City Power CEO Ms Tshifularo Mashava has welcomed the arrest and said efforts to combat the scourge of cable theft and vandalism has intensified.
“City Power finds the involvement of contracted security officers particularly worrying, because these are the people that have been entrusted with the duty of safeguarding our infrastructure.
However, these arrests are testament of our unwavering resolve as the municipal utility, in dealing with the problem of theft and vandalism, whether perpetrated by outsiders or those from within.
Early this financial year we reinforced our security operations with extra intelligence and technology muscle to unmask some of these internal collaborators” said Mashava.
The 15 were nabbed early on Saturday morning, during a multipronged, joint operation between the entity’s Security Risk Management and law enforcement agencies led by the police (SAPS) and an Essential Infrastructure Task Team.
Mashava said the first three suspects were caught at a scrap metal dealership in the Joburg CBD.
She said leads were followed on and later in the evening, three more men were arrested in the Inner-city along the underground tunnels.
“This was particularly worrying given the catastrophic destruction that occurred several weeks ago in Braamfontein as a result of theft and vandalism in these tunnels. In Reuven at City Power Head Offices, two security guards were handcuffed after the cable that was found and confiscated from a scrap metal dealer in the Inner City was found in their car ready to be taken out of the salvage yard. Seven other guards were also captured during the intelligence operation” she said.
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