City Power is investigating whether a series of attacks on critical electricity infrastructure in Johannesburg could be linked to a coordinated criminal operation after two suspects were arrested in connection with the vandalism of a switching station in Roodepoort.
The arrests follow an undercover operation at the Reyger Switching Station in Witpoortjie, where six switch gears were removed from their panels and vandalised.
The incident, which occurred over the weekend, is among a string of attacks that have contributed to electricity outages affecting communities across Roodepoort and parts of Randburg.
City Power said preliminary investigations showed that the suspects gained access to the Reyger Switching Station in Dromedaries Street through a damaged section of the perimeter fence before forcing open a door.
Oil was also found spilt inside the station.
The two suspects were arrested on Monday, August 17, and City Power is opening a criminal case with the South African Police Service in Roodepoort relating to tampering with essential infrastructure.
City Power Acting CEO Charles Tlouane said the arrests represented an opportunity to establish whether the suspects were connected to other attacks on the electricity network.
“The arrest of these two suspects gives us an important opportunity to establish who is behind the attacks and whether there are links between incidents affecting critical infrastructure in Roodepoort and elsewhere in the City where our infrastructure has been under siege,” Tlouane said.
He cautioned against prematurely labelling the suspects as members of a syndicate but said the repeated targeting of strategic installations warranted a broader intelligence-led investigation.
Tlouane also said investigators should not rule out the possibility of involvement by City Power employees or contractors.
“We would be naive to rule out the possible involvement of our own staff and contractors,” he said.
The investigation comes as City Power faces a significant backlog of outages in the Roodepoort Service Delivery Centre.
More than 491 outage calls were open at the centre, including 425 reported within the previous 24 hours.
While City Power said not all outages were the result of criminal activity, the recent vandalism and theft had placed additional pressure on its operations and weakened parts of the electricity network.
The Reefhaven Switching Station was recently targeted, resulting in outages in Lindhaven and Grobler Park.
A separate incident at the Ruimsig Substation affected Welgeheuwel and Honeydew.
Both incidents involved vandalism and theft.
City Power is investigating whether the repeated targeting of strategic installations could amount to sabotage if evidence establishes that the attacks were deliberately intended to compromise an essential service.
The problem has also spread to Randburg, where an indoor transformer installation on Aries Avenue in Sundowner was severely vandalised.
Critical components, including copper conductors, cables and other transformer parts, were stolen, rendering the transformer inoperable.
The damage left sections of Sundowner, including Aries Avenue, Scorpio Avenue, Pluto Close and Saturnus Avenue, without electricity.
No arrests have been made in the Sundowner case.
City Power said the damaged transformer had been removed to make way for a replacement, which was being procured. Technical teams and a contractor were preparing for the replacement, but there was no estimated restoration time.
City Power said the repeated attacks were placing communities under unnecessary pressure and undermining efforts to maintain reliable electricity supplies.
The entity has deployed additional security scouts to patrol switching stations and other critical infrastructure in Roodepoort.
It is also strengthening cooperation with SAPS and other law enforcement agencies.
Residents and businesses have been urged to participate in City Power’s Community Partnership Programme by helping increase visibility and supporting coordinated patrols around electricity infrastructure.
The entity recorded 1,138 infrastructure-related incidents during the 2024/25 financial year, compared with 1,054 incidents in 2025/26.
Although this represented an overall decline, City Power said the continued targeting of critical installations remained a serious threat to electricity supply.
Residents can report suspicious activity, suspected tampering, vandalism, cable theft and illegal connections to the City Power Security Risk Management Control Room on 011 490 7900, 011 490 7911 or via WhatsApp on 083 579 4497.
The entity urged residents to report criminal activity to SAPS and said cooperation between communities, law enforcement and the electricity utility was essential to protecting Johannesburg’s electricity network.
