Joburg City Power chief executive Tshifularo Mashava says they are appalled after a technician was kidnapped during a hijacking of a City-owned Toyota Hilux. Picture: Supplied
A Johannesburg City Power technician has been hijacked and kidnapped while conducting his duties in Lenasia South, the power utility said on Wednesday.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the official was among a team of technicians who were conducting official duties when they were attacked by a group of armed criminals who hijacked a brand new white Toyota Hilux with registration LG 82 DB - GP.
They fled the scene with the official.
City Power’s chief executive, Tshifularo Mashava said top management at the utility was outraged by the incident and they were conducting security assessments to determine if it was safe for employees to service the Lenasia area.
“We are outraged by such a violent crime meted against our employees while executing their duties. More than anything, we are concerned about the safety of our employee who has been kidnapped by these criminals,” said Mashava.
IOL News has approached the SA Police Service (SAPS) for formal comment and is awaiting comment.
This incident follows quickly after two people were shot dead in front of scores of learners during a charity drive in Lehae, near Lenasia, earlier this week.
In that incident, Rand Water executive, Teboho Joala and his bodyguard, were shot dead, while Joburg chief whip Sithembiso Zungu was wounded after being shot in the shoulder.
Also at the weekend, the Joburg Emergency Management Services sent a warning to members of the public after three firefighters were pelted with stones while responding to a fire in Eldorado Park. They warned they would withdraw their services in areas that were hostile to employees.
Mashava said City Power was currently conducting a safety assessment to determine if it was safe to conduct their work in the area.
“We urge residents of Lenasia South Ext 4 and surrounding neighbourhoods to help in providing any information that could lead to the apprehension of the perpetrators and safe rescue of our employee,” she said.
Mashava warned that it would be unsustainable to request Joburg Metro Police escorts in order for City Power officials to conduct their work.
“While we have an option to request escorts from JMPD to enable us to render service to the communities, this is unsustainable and costly, and may affect our response times to outages in hostile and volatile areas.
“We will not hesitate to pull out our teams from any area where their safety is compromised,” said Mashava.
Counselling and psycho-social support has been provided to the victims while the organisation said it was working with authorities to fund the kidnapped technician.
Anyone with information that can assist in the matter may contact the SAPS on 08600 10111 or call City Power Risk Control on 011 490 7900, 011 490 7911. Alternatively, one can call City Power’s anonymous line, 080 000 2587.
IOL News