22 people arrested for cable theft, vandalism in Joburg
City Power has arrested 22 people linked to cable theft and vandalism over the past week.
Eleven of the suspects were arrested along Carr Street, near the M1 tunnels where a fire broke out earlier this month, leading to prolonged outages in the city.
The flame which gutted the network infrastructure was sparked by acts of tampering.
City Power's spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the 11 suspects appeared in court on Tuesday for tampering with essential infrastructure.
"On 19 May 2024, a 21-year-old man was arrested in Orlando East after he was caught in possession of a three-metre-long underground cable. Four more people were nabbed on 15 May 2024 in Turffontein, Wilgeheuwel and Alexandra, respectively.
"Two were found digging out underground cable in Alexandra, and two others in Turffontein and Wilgeheuwel were found in possession of cable and busbars including cutting tools.
"On 13 May 2024, a Zimbabwean national was handcuffed in La Rochelle after he was caught while busy digging out cable."
"Four other suspects were arrested in Booysens on 11 May 2024 for tampering and possession of unlicensed firearms. Another man from Lesotho was arrested on that day in Devland after being caught in the process of digging out cable".
Mangena says the entity will spare no one in its effort to combat the scourge of illegal electricity-related crimes.
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