By: Natasha Archary
City Power says 13 suspects have been arrested for 16 incidents of cable theft and vandalism which has resulted in mass power outages in a number of areas across the city.
On Monday, 20 February, the Johannesburg service provider said parts of the city, particularly Joburg south which was plunged into darkness for days on end.
This was due to cable theft which involved underground copper cables, damage to mini-substations and vandalism of pillar boxes.
Police arrested 2 suspects in Eikenhof who are believed to be employed by a City Power contractor.
In Honeydew, 2 suspects were in possession of a number of cables and circuit breakers, as well as equipment which was used to damage infrastructure.
In Douglasdale, 1 suspect was in possession of skinned copper cables belonging to City Power.
Three suspects were arrested for tampering with infrastructure in Kensington.
A few other arrests were made in Booysens and Nancefield.
According to City Power, these thefts and incidents of vandalism resulted in four substations in Nancefield, Eldorado Park, Nirvana and Soweto being affected.
City Power says they are doing everything possible to restore power to affected areas.
#MediaStatement
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) February 20, 2023
A total of 13 suspects were arrested over the weekend following 16 incidences of cable theft and vandalism which plunged various areas into power outages. ^HN pic.twitter.com/uMyCl3B1Bv
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