On Tuesday, 18 July, City Power technicians were hijacked while on duty in Lenasia South.
The crew was answering a call from a customer about a faulty meter when they were attacked.
While one technician was verifying the address, the rest of the crew (one male and two females) in the two vans were hijacked. The cars were later found abandoned in Lawley and near Meriting Squatter Camp in Lenasia South. The three crew members managed to make their way to the police station.
“While the news of the hijacking is alarming, it highlights the increased risks our employees are exposed to in their line of duty. This year alone our teams have been held at gunpoint, robbed of cellphones, laptops, toolboxes, hijacked and injured to the point of hospitalisation – all while service the communities in Joburg. In this instance, one male crew member was physically assaulted while the two females were left physically unharmed. The employees were also robbed of their phones, bags and toolboxes, and they were also made to transfer money from their bank accounts. City Power will ensure that the employees’ emotional and physical wellbeing is prioritised. A case of hijacking and kidnapping has been opened at the local police station,” said City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.
City Power appeals to communities to rally around its employees as they try to ensure that they continue to render electricity services to the same communities and attend to calls.
Mangena added: “While we have an option to request escorts from JMPD to enable us to render service to the communities, this is unsustainable and costly, and may affect our response times to outages in hostile areas. City Power will not hesitate to pull out our teams from any areas where their safety is not guaranteed.”
