Dozens of Tshwane Employees Arrested for Trying To Steal Laudium Substation Transformers

• A tip-off from the Laudium community in Tshwane led to the arrest of City of Tshwane employees
• the employees were allegedly caught trying to steal transformers from the Laudium Substation
• South Africans theorised where the transformers were going, and some attributed the bold theft attempt to nepotism and an inside job

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

LAUDIUM, TSHWANE — The South African Police Service allegedly arrested dozens of City of Tshwane employees for trying to steal transformers at a substation.

Tshwane employees arrested

According to crime activist @Abramjee, the incident occurred at the Laudium Substation on 27 November 2024. Police were summoned to the scene, where heavy-duty trucks, including a crane, and vehicles registered to the Tshwane Metro Police Department were present.

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The police received a tip-off from community members just as some transformers were already loaded onto council trucks. Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, who was recently elected, was furious and said the law would not be lenient on them. The police are currently investigating.

View the tweet here:

South Africans not surprised

Netizens commenting on the tweet were not stunned and attributed the theft attempt to an inside job and nepotism.

Car of the Day said:

"Problem of nepotism because I don't think someone who desperately needs a job can fail to measure its worth."

Chun Bron said:

"It's usually always an inside job!"

Ritshidze Roxanne said:

"This transformer was going outside the country for sure because you can resell it to another country."

SK MANV said:

"Hebanna, now they are trying to sabotage the new mayor."

Lekhetho said:

"Each employee working for a public department must take mandatory biannual lie detector tests. Those who fail must be suspended."

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Laudium residents owe Tshwane municipality millions

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Laudium residents owe the City of Tshwane over R120 million in unpaid electricity bills.

The city identified 73 incidents of electricity connection tampering in July, which cost the city millions in unpaid electrical bills.

Source: Briefly News