A City Power engineer who was hijacked and kidnapped on the Lenasia extension line. Number 4 was discovered south of Joburg on Wednesday.
A City Power engineer who was hijacked and kidnapped on the Lenasia extension line. No. 4 was discovered south of Joburg.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the technician was one of three employees who responded to the call on Wednesday.
Mr Mangena said police were continuing to search for the Toyota Hilux bakkie the employees were driving and the unidentified armed assailants.
He said the hijacking victims were provided with psychosocial support.
City Power CEO Tsifulalo Mashaba was furious.
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Mangana said the utility conducted a safety assessment on whether to deploy employees to the area. He called on residents to alert authorities to any criminal activity that could impede service delivery.
Mr Mangena said using the services of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) to escort employees was not sustainable given the high volume of calls received each day.
“We have the option of working with JMPD to respond to power outages, but on average there are about 2,000 outages each day, and each one has their own responsibilities, so we have to make sure we have a JMPD vehicle in each one. It becomes difficult,” Mangena said.
He added that power companies may suspend service in unsafe areas.
