A Johannesburg City Power team of four that was attending to a faulty meter in Lenasia was hijacked allegedly at gunpoint.
The vehicles were subsequently recovered after they were abandoned in Lawley, near the Meriting Squatter Camp in Lenasia South.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena has warned that the power utility would not hesitate to pull out from areas where the safety of City Power staff was not guaranteed.
He said City Power officials had been frequently attacked at gunpoint this year, with their cellphones, laptops and toolboxes robbed.
Some officials had been hijacked and hospitalised due to injuries they sustained while carrying out services in the communities of Joburg.
Speaking on Tuesday’s attack, Mangena said the crew had opened a case of hijacking and kidnapping at the local police station.
“City Power has learnt with dismay about the hijacking of its technicians while on duty in Lenasia South on Tuesday.
“The crew was answering a call from a customer about a faulty meter when they were attacked,” said Mangena.
He said the crew of two male and two female technicians, who were traveling in two vans, was attacked while one technician had been verifying the address.
“While the news of the hijacking is alarming, it highlights the increased risks our employees are exposed to in their line of duty.
“In this instance, one male crew member was physically assaulted while the two females were left physically unharmed.
“The employees were also robbed of their phones, bags and toolboxes, and they were also made to transfer money from their bank accounts.
“City Power will ensure that the employees’ emotional and physical wellbeing is prioritised,” he said.
City Power has pleaded with members of the community to rally around their officials as they attend to various power faults and outages throughout the City of Johannesburg.
City Power has been receiving thousands of outage complaints daily as the City struggles with rampant theft of electricity infrastructure and constant tripping of services after load shedding.
City Power said although it could request JMPD escorts in volatile areas, this exercise was unsustainable and costly, and it could also lead to longer response times to outages in hostile areas.
“City Power will not hesitate to pull out our teams from any areas where their safety is not guaranteed,” Mangena warned.
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