City Power, the distributor of electricity in the City of Johannesburg, has pulled out of Jeppestown after the entity’s technicians came under attack on Monday morning.
Isaac Mangena, spokesperson for City power, said: “The team comprising four technicians was attending to outage calls, and were connecting customers on the overhead lines around Wolhuter and Auret Street in Jeppestown this morning when they were attacked by at least six unknown criminals.
“The six men pointed our technicians with guns and took phones and money from them.
They also assaulted them, leaving one badly injured. All these happened in full view of the community. The technicians were there to assist with electricity problems.
“We decided not to complete the repairs and we pulled our team out of the area until their safety is guaranteed.”
Mangena pleaded with the police for a speedy arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.
The attack on came a month after City Power teams were assaulted in Hillbrow and Alexandra, leading to one of the technicians being admitted to the hospital.
Mangena added: “We appeal to the community to stand up against the criminals who attack municipal workers, as this affects service delivery in their areas. While an option of escorts remains on the table, it will be a costly and unnecessary exercise, as we expect the community to cooperate with our workers serving them.”
In a separate development, City Power plans to settle its debt with several subcontractors who offer maintenance for streetlights, audits, and disconnection services.
The subcontractors told Sunday World over a week ago that they have not been paid for the past three months, the allegations that City Power has not refuted.
The entity met with the subcontractors on December 5, and promised to process payments.
One of the subcontractors who chose to remain anonymous expressed relief and told Sunday World: “We are grateful that at least something was paid. This means we can at least pay our employees, so that they can buy food for their families, because it was really bad the past few months.”
However, another subcontractor remains hopeless, saying the entity will not stick to its promise, because it is struggling with funds. “They definitely don’t have the money, they will only be able to pay around January and that’s not definite,” he said, not willing to be identified.
“The city is apparently looking for money. The money that they paid is peanuts, because they need us to come and assist them with services. So yes, it is what it is, I guess #BlackChristmas.”
Mangena said: “We have been meeting with the contractors on individual basis and through the service delivery centres. We acknowledge that we have a backlog in terms of the payments and are communicating to them about it.
“We are attending to them, and are already settling the October backlog, with November and December to follow. This doesn’t affect contractors only, but service providers and consultants, among others.”
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