City Power left reeling following theft of R600K transformer
City Power is still reeling from the shock of a transformer stolen from the Selby substation after thieves made away with the highly priced piece of equipment.
The transformer is valued at R600 000.
Eyewitnesses claim at least 2 people were on site at the time of the theft.
The suspects, armed with a crane truck, impersonated technicians – claiming to take the transformer for repairs.
“The criminals took advantage of technical outage in the area on Tuesday and brought a crane truck in the daylight and removed the transformer,” said the power utility’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
“A vigilant customer took photos of the truck and the two suspect and shared same with City Power Security Risk Management the following day. By then it was too late because the suspects had already left the scene of crime.”
The theft of the transformer left the area without power for at least three days.
Meanwhile, acting CEO Nancy Maluleke has welcomed the 15 years behind bars for a criminal who damaged City Power electricity network infrastructure, attempting to steal copper cables.
“City Power security arrested the man in July 2020 while cutting and damaging copper bus-bars and cables from a mini substation in Park View. The damage to the infrastructure caused extensive outage to Park View and surrounding areas,” he added.
“The suspect was found guilty on the 25 January 2021 and convicted to 15- years direct imprisonment few days later.”
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