City Power said it has recovered close to 60kg of cables from scrap metal yards in the south of Johannesburg, on the 06th March 2025.
About 28.2kg of stolen cables—17kg of stripped copper and 11.2kg of aluminium were seized in Regents Park and South Rand, by Regents Park and Southrand.
Tshifularo Mashava, CEO of City Power, said “the message is simple: We are coming for you! Scrap metal dealers who continue to buy stolen infrastructure are not only creating a market for these stolen goods, but are active players in the theft of electricity which creates unimaginable suffering for our residents.
They are crippling the city’s power supply, destroying businesses, and holding
communities hostage, out of greed. This criminal behavior must never go unpunished.”
She also said the power utility’s strategy of putting boots on the ground is paying off.
On the same day as the scrapyard raids, three suspects—a Mozambican and two Zimbabwean nationals—were caught illegally connecting electricity at the corner of Church and Park Streets in Turffontein.
Earlier in the week, on 5 March 2025, a 31-year-old Phenious Seroka, an employee of a City Power contractor, was arrested at
Selby Substation with 1.2 metres of 185MV copper cable.
A 32-year-old Sifiso Innocent Tembe was also nabbed on the same day along the M1/M2 highway in Naturena with 15kg of unskinned copper cables.