Two men have been caught with steel-cutting equipment inside an electricity substation in Roodepoort.
City Power said the arrests on Tuesday night came after security was beefed up to include heightened patrols of all its electrical installations across Johannesburg
The collaborations forged with the community structures including the policing forums, neighbourhood watch groups, and ratepayers associations are helping to curb cable theft, said City Power.
“The two were arrested last night after they cut the locks to gain access into the substation chamber in Florida,” said City Power.
The thieves cut and stole cables inside the substation leading to power going off in the area.
City Power said the arrested men were found with steel-cutting equipment and other tools including saws.
Three cut padlocks were also found in their possession.
The two suspects were handed over to the police, A case of vandalism and theft of essential infrastructure has been opened.
Florida and other areas in Roodepoort have recently been plagued by outages due to vandalism of the infrastructure and theft of copper cables.
This week Fleurhof, Witpoortjie, and Discovery reported incidents of cable theft and vandalism.
City Power said it has asked the police to investigate whether the arrested men can be linked to these other cable thefts and vandalism.
“We appeal to the justice cluster to ensure the punishment of those found guilty of vandalism and theft of essential infrastructure fits the crime and serves as a deterrent,” said City Power.
The vandalised substation has been restored.
City Power management said it welcomed the arrest of the “two white men” for vandalism and theft of copper cables in Roodepoort.
Residents should report any suspicious movement around our infrastructure to our Security Risk Control on 011 490 7900/7911 Or to the nearest SAPS 10111.
