City Power technicians were robbed at gunpoint. Photo: City Power/ Facebook.
City Power technicians robbed on their way to fix a transformer
City Power says it will not hesitate to pull out teams from any area where their safety is at risk after technicians were robbed at gunpoint.
City Power technicians were robbed at gunpoint. Photo: City Power/ Facebook.
Four City Power technicians were allegedly robbed at gunpoint in Tshepisong while on the way to replace a faulty pole transformer in Block 5A (Ebumnandini).
The incident happened on Monday, 19 February.
CITY POWER TECHNICIANS ROBBED AT GUNPOINT
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said three men allegedly ambushed the technicians and robbed them of their cellphones and wallets.
Following the incident, the team had to return to the Roodepoort SDC.
Mangena said the violent incident, unfortunately, lengthened the duration of the outage.
“An assessment will be made to determine whether it’s safe for our workers to return and carry out repairs,” he said.
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EMPLOYEES ALLEGEDLY HIJACKED AND ROBBED
Mangena said Monday’s incident comes a little over two weeks after City Power technicians were hijacked and robbed in Lenasia South.
In that case, three technicians who were testing faulty cables in the area were also attacked at gunpoint. The hijackers drove away with an official car.
Mangena said City Power employees are increasingly bearing the brunt of this criminal trend.
“As the entity, we have made counselling services available to the employees affected as well as other measures that they may
require.“However, the attacks are dangerous and unsustainable and are likely to make the utility review its operation, particularly in hot-spot areas,” he added.
Furthermore, City Power reiterated that it will not hesitate to pull out teams from any area where their safety is at risk.
