Robbers make off with cables in armed robbery at Joburg substation

City Power has opened a case of theft following an armed robbery at its substation in Mulbarton‚ south of Johannesburg‚ on Friday night.

City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena said that from information received‚ six armed men had stormed the substation at around midnight‚ and held up the security officers on duty and a staff member‚ tying them with cable ties‚ before stealing valuable equipment from the site.

Mulbarton substation is undergoing a major upgrade and is currently under a contractor and guarded by the contractor.

“The six robbers arrived in a truck and overpowered the two security guards on duty.

“They proceeded to break into the onsite storage and loaded a 500 metre drum of cable‚ and 5 x 75m copper cables.

“While busy‚ a City Power electrician who was working on an outage in Glenvista arrived at the substation trying to trace the outage fault. He was also held and tied up‚” Mangena said.

The three City Power employees were also robbed of their cellphones‚ he said. The robbers also took the electrician’s toolbox‚ worth R3‚500.

“Police were called and a case of armed robbery has been opened at Mondeor Police station.”