City Power withdraws overnight services in ‘unsafe’ areas
City Power has decided to withdraw overnight services in areas of Johannesburg which are deemed unsafe for technicians.
The decision comes amid several attacks on technicians who were responding to power outages.
"City Power is deeply worried and outraged by continuing attacks on our operators and other officials of the entity," said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
On Monday, an operator was attacked, held at gunpoint and robbed of his cell phone while his way to restore power in Pennyville after load shedding to restore power.
He was also nearly hijacked.
Mangena said the attacks make the work of technicans impossible.
"Almost every month, cases of intimidation, assault and robbery come to our attention and are reported to the police. Our team members are subjected to traumatic and violent experiences at the hands of merciless criminals in various parts of the city.
"This problem is deeply troubling because so many other employees have also been held at gun-point, robbed of cellphones, laptops, toolboxes, hijacked and injured to the point of hospitalisation, all while on duty and servicing communities across Johannesburg, this year alone."
ALSO READ
