Five municipal employees arrested for illegal electricity reconnections

Five employees of the Emfuleni local municipality have been arrested for allegedly taking bribes from households in exchange for illegally reconnecting their electricity supply.

They allegedly targeted homes whose electricity had been cut off by the municipality for owing money.

The five, who are attached to the municipality’s revenue and electrical departments, were arrested by the Gauteng political killings task team (PKTT) during a takedown operation in Vanderbijlpark on Friday.

According to police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe, the suspects allegedly misrepresented themselves to municipal clients as authorised officials who could reconnect their electricity.

“Clients were allegedly instructed to pay various amounts of money directly into the suspects’ bank accounts in exchange for the illegal reconnection of electricity.

“The suspects are further alleged to have unlawfully reconnected electricity supplies without the authorisation of the municipality, resulting in the illegal use of electricity and financial losses to the municipality,” Mathe said.

Police did not disclose how many residents are believed to have paid money to the suspects, how much money was allegedly received, or how many households were allegedly reconnected as part of the scheme.

The five suspects are expected to appear in court on Monday, where the charges against them are expected to be formalised.

Mathe said the Gauteng PKTT said it would continue working with relevant stakeholders to ensure that people who abuse their positions for personal financial gain are held accountable.

“The investigation is ongoing, and further arrests are anticipated,” said Mathe.