Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya slams attempted transformer theft

Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has voiced her outrage after the recent attempted theft of transformers from the Laudium substation. 

The theft attempt, which involved large heavy-duty trucks and a crane, was thwarted after a community tip-off, and Tshwane metro police department (TMPD) officers acted quickly to prevent further damage to the city's infrastructure.

The authorities confiscated several trucks, including council vehicles, and arrested 10 people on-site. Some transformers were already loaded onto council trucks when the TMPD arrived.

“Earlier on this afternoon we got a tip-off that there are trucks and cranes that came to the Claudius substation in Laudium. They started stripping the transformers and started loading the transformers on the trucks,” she said in a video posted on X.

Moya said the community acted quickly and that the swift response of the TMPD, aided by local councillor Naeem Patel, who was alerted by a ward committee member, ensured the suspects were apprehended before they could make off with the stolen goods.

“Fortunately TMPD got here on time and were able to detain all these trucks and arrest 10 people,” said Moya. 

Acting on the information, TMPD officers and the cable theft unit were dispatched to the scene, where they uncovered the extent of the operation. 

The suspects, who had been attempting to strip and steal critical infrastructure under the false pretence of repairs, included a city employee from the energy and electricity department.

“One of those people is the official of the city from the energy and electricity department — a trusted electrician, as I am told by his managers,” said Moya.

Nearly 50 individuals were reportedly involved in the illegal act and the suspects were arrested on-site and transported to Laudium SAPS for processing.

Moya said the criminal syndicate which allegedly planned the heist used sophisticated equipment like cranes and flatbed trucks to carry out the theft.

“Now what we are dealing with here is not a small crime. The person who sent these people here and hired this equipment to the value of over R500,000 is someone from Middelburg. Part of the people that have been detained here are people from the City of Joburg. It tells you that this is a very co-ordinated syndicate.”

Moya expressed both relief and frustration at the events, emphasising that while the situation had been handled well, it highlighted the ongoing challenge that some city officials have played in enabling these crimes.

“It's quite unfortunate that whenever you experience outages, and we look at theft and vandalism of our infrastructure, it's none other than officials in the City of Tshwane who let us down. But we are saying, as the City of Tshwane, it can never be business as usual.”

Moya acknowledged the importance of community involvement in tackling crime and called for continued vigilance.

“We are just happy that the community worked very well with the government and the law enforcers were able to get here on time and we're going to update you in terms of what is happening from here.”

She took a firm stance on the matter, signalling the city's commitment to protecting its resources and ensuring the safety of its resident.

“We can never allow this to happen. Whenever they hit, we will respond. But obviously we'll be more proactive — because we can't keep running after criminals like this.”

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