City of Johannesburg (CoJ) executive mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse has instructed CoJ Head of Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya to assemble a team to work with law enforcement agencies, including the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, to investigate and combat attacks on the city’s infrastructure.

The final week of March into early April saw three violent attacks that targeted metropolitan utility City Power security personnel and infrastructure. These attacks were carried out by heavily armed criminals “who are not averse to taking lives and undermine the city’s efforts to keep the lights on and sustain economic activity”, the CoJ notes.

“My office will also be coordinating and monitoring the efforts of stakeholders from the city and other spheres of government to ensure this process moves with haste and precision, and that we exhaust all provisions of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act,” Phalatse says.

On the evening of March 30, security personnel stationed at the Cydna substation, north of Johannesburg, were accosted by an armed gang with high-calibre rifles. They were made to lie on the floor as the gang ransacked the substation and stole several hundred kilograms of underground cabling the gang ripped from the ground using unmarked 4x4 vehicles.

On the night of March 31, two City Power security personnel were gunned down and robbed of their firearms on Carr street, in Newtown, after ferrying burned-out copper cables to a nearby depot from the scene of the underground fire in the central business district, she states.

During the third incident, on April 1, two City Power security personnel exchanged gun fire with assailants in Kya Sand, north of Johannesburg. One of the security personnel was rushed to hospital and is now in the intensive care unit after sustaining a headshot wound.

“In my interactions with local authorities across the country, it has become clear that these are not incidents isolated to Johannesburg and a coordinated plan, led by national government, is needed to prevent these crimes and to protect critical infrastructure,” says Phalatse.

“We cannot do this on our own and require inputs and resources from all spheres of government. I have therefore appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Prosecuting Authority and Gauteng Police Commissioner lieutenant-general Elias Mawela to avail the highest level of resources to investigate and prosecute what is becoming a trend aimed at sabotaging Johannesburg’s already fragile infrastructure,” she states.

It is important that national and provincial role-players add their voices and resources to this fight to protect the city’s economic infrastructure and prevent what must be termed economic sabotage carried out by organised criminals, she emphasises.

“I will work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that these criminals are not left to run amok in the country’s economic capital. The deliberate destruction of economic infrastructure must be treated with the urgency and resources it deserves.”

Phalatse urges anyone who might have information related to the incidents to contact Sibiya on 081 462 2939 or call the City’s 24-hour tip-off hotline 0800 002 587.