Johannesburg electricity provider City Power has announced plans to strengthen its corruption-busting initiatives. Its anti-corruption initiative seeks to ramp up the utility’s fight against the scourge of corruption and misconduct by some of its officials‚ service providers‚ and customers.In a statement‚ City Power said the initiative will focus on high-risk areas around metering‚ namely applications for new meters‚ relocation and reconnection of existing meters as well as the procurement processes within City Power’s supply chain unit.“The area of metering was identified as a high-risk area where unscrupulous officials and service providers offer customers stolen meters that have been tampered with‚ swindle customers who submit smart meter applications and offer illegal reconnections to those customers that have been disconnected due to non-payment‚” the company said in a statement.City Power registered 851 cases with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and prosecuting authorities relating to cable theft‚ malicious damage to property and meters‚ including domestic and large power users. 782 arrests have been made to date with 274 convictions already.The company’s spokesperson‚ Yumna Sheik‚ previously said that City Power was encouraged by the ratification of the Criminal Matters Amendment Bill 2015. The ratification of this Bill will give the prosecuting authorities the ability and authority to impose more stringent sentences to suspects convicted of cable theft.“City Power is confident that the imposition of maximum sentences will serve as a deterrence to those who selfishly regard electricity infrastructure as an easy source of revenue‚” she said.The company further announced structural changes to its operations. The changes‚ which stem from the State of the City Address in 2015 by Executive Mayor Parks Tau‚ mandates City Power to review its business model‚ increase its generating capacity and acquire electricity from renewable and alternative sources in addition to traditional avenues. Tau also called for the utility to reduce its carbon footprintSicelo Xulu‚ City Power Managing Director‚ said that the realignment of operational structure put the utility in the best position to achieve its revised business mandate.“This new operating structure is indicative of an organisation that is agile and responsive to the changing operating environment. This new structure will unlock value‚ improve customer service‚ streamline operations and enhance efficiencies‚” he said.Earlier on Monday a substation in Roosevelt Park experienced a technical fault. ..