Johannesburg - City Power has welcomed the arrest of four alleged suspects, who were apprehended by the City Power security risk management team while trying to reconnect a defaulting business customer in central Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Two of the suspects are part of the management team at the defaulting business situated in Marshalltown.
According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, the inner city service delivery centre team is conducting an audit of defaulting companies that have previously been disconnected in order to monitor businesses that may try to reconnect.
"When they arrived at HOMII, a company based in Marshaltown, Johannesburg, they discovered two suspects working inside the City Power transformer chamber, reconnecting the company."
"The alleged suspects installed cables and claimed to have been appointed by City Power to reconnect the customer, but they were unable to present legitimate ID cards or work orders to prove the legitimacy of the reconnection."
"One of the suspects then admitted that the defaulting company promised him R12 000 in exchange for illegally reconnecting them to our energy network. The team quickly bolted the chamber and called the City Power Security Risk Management Team and the police."
Mangena added that all four suspects were brought to the Johannesburg Central Police Station, where they will be processed and charged with crimes ranging from tampering with vital infrastructure to vandalism and energy theft.
He said: "This defaulting business was originally disconnected last week, on Thursday, March 23, due to 4 million in debts owed to City Power. On Friday, March 24, our teams found that the business had been reconnected."
"In a desperate effort to avoid being disconnected, company officials offered R100 000 to City Power officials, who refused and proceeded to disconnect them anyway.
"Customers who are past due on their payments are encouraged to resolve their accounts directly with City Power, and City Power will only disconnect customers to collect the city's growing debt, which currently stands at around R10 billion, after following due process, which includes repeated calls and messages urging customers to pay as well as pre-termination notices."
He said customers would face a steep reconnection cost. "Customers can recognise our disconnect officers by their trademark uniforms and ID cards, which they are required to wear while on duty.
"Customers can check the credentials of City Power workers by calling the number on their identification cards."
"We will continue to monitor all clients who have been disconnected and will ensure that they are arrested and sentenced appropriately."
"Customers are cautioned that illegally connecting to our energy network is tampering with essential infrastructure crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison without the option of a fine," explained Mangena.
The Star