Three security guards, contracted by the City of Ekurhuleni, were arrested for allegedly stealing copper cables while they were on duty at a municipal depot.
Spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD), Lieutenant Colonel Kelebogile Thepa said the three security guards were assigned to guard a municipal site.
“On Saturday, July 1 at around 1.45am in the morning, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department’s anti-cable theft unit officers arrested three male security guards, contracted by the City of Ekurhuleni for tampering with essential infrastructure in the Tembisa area,” Thepa said.
“As EMPD officers were patrolling around the Tembisa area, they received a call from the control room, informing them about the three on-duty security personnel picked up by the CCTV cameras in the process of stealing electrical copper cables stored in the depot situated on Beans Street in Mangweni section.”
EMPD officers rushed to the scene and allegedly caught the three security guards red-handed.
“Members responded swiftly and three personnel from a private security company, tasked to guard the municipality site, were caught red-handed stealing a copper cable worth R20,000, and were handcuffed. Thereafter, the shift supervisor and the liable owner were summoned on-site,” said Thepa.
The three men, between the ages of 35 and 40, are facing charges of tampering with essential infrastructure.
They were taken to the Rabasotho police station, and are expected to appear before the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court soon.
In April, a security guard was arrested for possession of suspected stolen rolls of copper cables with a value of R150,000 in Delmas, Mpumalanga.
The security guard was cornered by his supervisor and was allegedly found in possession of 29 copper cables that were allegedly stolen at Argent, at the railway station, and were recovered.
IOL