City Power has strongly condemned a violent attack on its security personnel and property at the Lenasia Service Delivery Centre (SDC) on Tuesday, June 30, following an electricity outage that affected Murray Avenue in Lenasia Ext 10.
Four security officers were injured during the incident. Two sustained serious injuries and were admitted to hospital for treatment, while two others suffered minor injuries.
City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena said: “This brazen act of violence marks a disturbing escalation in attacks against personnel who play a critical role in safeguarding City Power facilities and supporting the safe delivery of essential electricity services to communities in the area.”
City Power said its technical teams were unable to immediately attend to the outage due to an exceptionally high number of low-voltage faults being experienced across the network during the current winter period. This was reportedly communicated to a group of affected customers who visited the Lenasia SDC earlier on Tuesday morning.
However, later that day, a group of about 20 to 25 individuals returned to the centre and launched a violent attack on security officers and City Power property.
Mangena said one of the suspects allegedly drove a vehicle into a security officer, causing serious injuries. “The attackers also caused extensive damage to City Power property, including the destruction of the security guard house and the smashing of windows in the SDC,” he added.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident and arrested four suspects. They are expected to face charges including attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, public violence and malicious damage to property.
Mangena said investigations are continuing, with a manhunt underway for other suspects believed to have been involved.
“City Power welcomes the swift action taken by law enforcement and will continue working closely with the JMPD and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that every individual responsible is brought to justice. Violence, intimidation and attacks on our employees, contractors and security personnel are criminal acts that cannot and will not be tolerated. Such incidents place lives at risk, undermine the delivery of essential services and divert critical resources away from restoring electricity supply to customers,” he said.
