Two Chinese nationals will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday following their arrest for illegally connecting to the city’s electricity service.
"The suspects, who own a business in Fordburg, have an account with the city which is in arrears of about R500,000. Their business property was targeted earlier in the week as part of Operation #BuyaMthetho," mayor Herman Mashaba said on Saturday.
During that operation, power supply to their property was cut off by City Power employees. It was clear that these businessmen worked with officials who supplied them with a new meter and reconnected the power supply to their property illegally, he said.
"I have instructed the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) to monitor properties which are disconnected as a part of Operation #BuyaMthetho so as to ensure that services are not illegally reconnected at these properties. If they are reconnected, the owners will be arrested immediately, as was the case with these two suspects."
On Friday, the city’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS) team, working together with the South African Police Service (SAPS), arrested a businessman in Fordsburg for attempting to bribe a city official to install four electricity prepaid meters valued at R8000. The arrest was also part of Operation #BuyaMthetho.
"Operation #BuyaMthetho is a new multi-departmental operation aimed at enforcing by-laws and bringing the rule of law to the City of Johannesburg. Key departments that are part of the operation include city departments and entities such as GFIS, JMPD, environmental health, social development, infrastructure services, the city’s legal department, and development planning to name but a few."
This operation was conducted on a daily basis as a ward-based “raid” initiative. The operation’s main focus was to ensure city by-law were adhered to by all within the city and that the rule of law became the order of the day.
The city, working with all state law enforcement agencies, would not leave any stone unturned when dealing with criminal activities within its area of jurisdiction, Mashaba said.
- African News Agency (ANA)