City Power contractor caught sabotaging a substation nearly killing technicians

A City Power contractor was arrested for allegedly sabotaging a substation in Roodepoort, Johannesburg, and nearly killing technicians working on the same network nearby.

The incident happened on Wednesday, 31 May.

CITY POWER CONTRACTOR ARRESTED WHILE TAMPERING WITH INFRASTRUCTURE

According to City Power, the man was found inside a switching substation in the Roodepoort area with working equipment.

The act of sabotage nearly killed the company’s operators and technicians working on the network downstream from the same switching station.

While City Power operators worked on the repairs in the Roodepoort area, they isolated the switching substation for safety. Luckily, they tested the cables and other infrastructure again before starting their work, only to find that the cables were still live.

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City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said the technicians returned to the transmission station to check how the cable they isolated earlier was suddenly live. At this time, they discovered the contractor had accessed the switching substation.

Mashava said the contractor was captured by the community, which suspected that he was there to vandalise and steal the equipment.

The CEO said the man confessed that he switched on the breakers and could not produce any job card requiring him to be there, nor could he explain his actions.

Eskom operators at a substation in Bryanston. Image: Twitter/@CityPowerJhb.

How the contractor gained access to the switching substation remains unclear.

The man was taken to the Roodepoort police station. He was expected to appear in court on Thursday, facing charges relating to tampering with essential infrastructure and vandalism.

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