Pretoria – The city of Johannesburg’s electricity utility, City Power, said on Thursday that it welcomed the arrest of a 52-year-old man who tried to bribe technicians after having his electricity cut.
“The suspect was arrested earlier today at his house in Dainfern during a sting operation led by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) undercover unit. The suspect is one of 19 customers who were targeted in a cut-off operation on Wednesday,” said City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.
According to Mangena, the man owes City Power R463,000 for electricity.
He said the customer offered the utility’s technicians R5, 000 if they would re-connect his home.
“The technicians agreed to come back the following day to reconnect him and get the money,” said Mangena, adding that the police were alerted and a sting planned.
“The suspect was arrested at his house after giving technicians and the police R1, 500 to have his house reconnected. A case of bribery has been opened and the suspected is detained at Douglasdale police station.”
“We would like to warn our customers against offering bribes to City Power officials as this is a serious criminal offence,” said Mangena.
Last year, a man employed by a company contracted to City Power was arrested for soliciting a bribe from a customer. The man appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on corruption and extortion charges after demanding R2,000 to re-connect the customer’s electricity. It had been cut because of an unpaid bill of over R320,000.
African News Agency