Kholofelo Mogotlane
Johannesburg’s inner city is fast becoming a battleground for criminal syndicates targeting critical power infrastructure, with City Power raising the alarm over an unprecedented surge in cable theft and violent attacks.
In yet another brazen incident, five suspects were arrested at the Fordsburg Substation on the night of Tuesday, 25 February 2025, just 24 hours after a dramatic shootout at the same location between law enforcement and armed cable thieves.
City Power’s tactical team, responding to unusual activity, entered the substation tunnels at 21:50, where they heard suspects cutting cables. The criminals fled before they could be captured, only to return moments later to resume their illicit operation. This led to a joint operation with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s (JMPD) Tactical Response Unit (TRU), culminating in a high-speed pursuit through the Bree and Fordsburg tunnels. By midnight, five suspects — foreigners from Mozambique, Malawi, and Lesotho — were cornered and arrested near the stormwater river on Main Reef Road. They were found in possession of stolen cables and tools used for cutting infrastructure before being taken to Central Police Station on charges of tampering with essential infrastructure.
The escalating frequency and brutality of these attacks have placed Johannesburg’s power network under immense strain, forcing City Power to divert crucial resources to safeguarding infrastructure rather than improving service delivery. Criminals, now operating in heavily armed groups, are no longer merely stealing copper — they are waging an all-out assault on the city’s energy security.
City Power’s General Manager for Public Relations and Communications, Isaac Mangena, says there have already been five armed confrontations this year between technicians and gunmen targeting underground cables in the inner city alone.
“One of the deadliest incidents occurred on 18 January 2025, when a repair team was ambushed while restoring power to the CBD, triggering a gunfight that left two cable thieves dead and a City Power employee hospitalised,” Mangena said.
The crisis is not confined to Fordsburg. In November 2024, a gang of seven stormed Bellevue Substation, overpowering and assaulting two security officers before tying them up. When the City Power control room detected a security breach and dispatched reinforcements, the suspects opened fire, leading to a firefight. Two attackers were arrested, but five escaped.
The utility is currently on a manhunt for 11 suspects linked to violent attacks on the Midrand and Alexandra Service Delivery Centres earlier this month.
City Power’s General Manager for Risk Management, Sergeant Thela, issued a stark warning: “We are seeing a deeply concerning trend where undocumented individuals — without vetting, background checks, or accountability — are gaining access to our network.
“This creates a major security risk, as these individuals could be passing insider information to criminal syndicates or even directly participating in infrastructure sabotage.”
Faced with this growing crisis, City Power is calling for stronger law enforcement intervention and stricter penalties for those convicted of tampering with essential infrastructure. The financial losses from cable theft run into millions, but the bigger cost is the collapse of power supply in key areas, jeopardising businesses, households, and emergency services.
“These are not desperate individuals stealing to survive — this is organised crime at the highest level, and it is crippling Johannesburg,” Mangena stated.
City Power is ramping up security at high-risk substations, enhancing surveillance, and deploying more armed response teams. However, the utility warns that it cannot fight this battle alone. It urges residents and businesses to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity before more lives are lost and Johannesburg’s energy infrastructure is pushed to breaking point.
SOURCED FROM THE JOBURG WEBSITE.
