City Power concerned over vandalism on its underground tunnels

Johannesburg City Power has raised concerns over the increase in vandalism incidents on its underground tunnels.

The power utility says this has resulted in a number of power outages across the city.

In 2022, the Gauteng SAPS announced the establishment of the Regional Essential Infrastructure task team.

The multi-disciplinary team was commissioned to combat the theft and damage to essential infrastructure.

For full interview click audio below:

City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena says, “For us in the City of Johannesburg, especially at City Power, it seems like they actually going up these incidents and it looks like these criminals are really well resourced and also brazen in their operations, where they don’t mind to shoot to kill.”

“We’ve had gun battles with these criminals underground. But also, we’ve seen another trend – whenever there is a crackdown on zama-zamas in the mines, we start to see the incidents of vandalism and theft increasing on our network, suggesting that it is probably the same groups that are linked, and they are basically harvesting some of this government infrastructure,” adds Mangena.

Related video: City Power | Vandalism on it’s own is problematic: Isaac Mangena