A MUNICIPAL worker has been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity cables.
The City of Ekurhuleni employee was one of the three people arrested in a truck carrying stolen power cables worth about R1,2 million in Alberton, in Ekurhuleni, on Tuesday, 13 February.
According Ekurhuleni spokesman Zweli Dlamini, the municipality’s anti-cable theft task team and a private security company intercepted the truck before it left with the cables from the city’s stores in Alberton.
"Among the three suspects is an employee who works as a clerk at Alberton stores. This makes the situation even worse because we expect our employees to protect municipal infrastructure at all times."
Dlamini said preliminary investigations show that the employee issued fraudulent documents to release the cable from the stores.
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He said cable theft was a major problem for the city and they spent millions on security companies to patrol and monitor infrastructure.
"The City of Ekurhuleni is losing more than R90 million per year due to cable theft and a lot of money also goes towards replacing stolen cables.
"The municipal official will also face an internal disciplinary process," said Dlamini.
Captain Neldah Sekgobela confirmed the incident and said three suspects were arrested and a case of theft has been opened at the Alberton cop shop.
