City Power contractor ‘tampering’ with equipment in Roodepoort, endangering colleagues

A City Power contractor has been arrested for sabotage after he was found tampering with essential electricity infrastructure inside a substation on Tuesday, the entity said.

City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava explained what happened.

“The suspect was found inside a City Power switching substation in the Roodepoort area with working equipment. It is not clear how he gained entry, but his actions nearly killed some City Power operators and technicians who were working on the network downstream.

“While City Power operators were working on the repairs, they isolated the switching substation for safety purposes.

"By sheer luck they tested the cables and other infrastructure again before starting their work, only to find that the cables were still live.

"They went back to the transmission station to check.

“They found the suspect inside the chamber and the community had already captured him on suspicion that he was there to vandalise and steal the equipment. He confessed that he switched on the breakers and could not produce any job card requiring him to be there nor could he explain his actions."

The community had initially let him off the hook while City Power's general manager for security services arranged a trap to have him arrested.

On Wednesday, the contractor was asked to report to head office for questioning and was arrested with the assistance of Joburg metro police's tactical team.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena confirmed that the contractor was taken to Roodepoort police station and will appear in court on Thursday on tampering with essential infrastructure, vandalism and acts of sabotage charges.

“The suspect is also facing a possible attempted murder charge for putting the lives of the technicians in danger. It is not clear if he was working with other people.

“We have been experiencing a blatant attack on our infrastructure across the city, with Roodepoort the hardest hit. Some of the vandalism on the infrastructure cannot be explained as often nothing is taken. Most are bordering on sabotage. We have increased surveillance in collaboration with the SAPS, and other security apparatus to ensure we root out the criminals.

“We have never ruled out the involvement of contractors and staff in some of these actions. The police are following leads and we are confident arrests will be made,” Mashava said.

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