Cigarette butt leads to capture of six cable theft suspects

A burning cigarette butt in the tunnel and WhatsApp messages between City Power security guards and cable thieves are what nailed six men who are part of a gang that strips the city's infrastructure. 

Security guards Tony Nkwashu, 26, Musawenkosi Mngube, 26, and their supervisor Bongeni Mtshali, 43, appeared at the Johannesburg magistrate court yesterday alongside Thabo Moyo, 25, Interest Paija, 28, and Bernard Ncube, 26, on charges of theft ferrous metal. Their arrests come a month after fire broke out from the underground tunnels near M1 in Newtown in a suspected case of a botched cable theft incident. 

They were arrested on Friday night in an intelligence-driven operation that led law enforcements and private security companies to City Power tunnels along Carr Street in Newtown, central Joburg. 

According to an internal security report, City Power manager in the security service received intelligence about a planned crime to harvest cables in Carr Street on Friday and this was followed by a meeting between private security companies contracted to City Power, police and the metro police where a plan of action was hatched.

“All the forces moved to Carr Street. Two EnvironMongz [security company] officers [Nkwashu and Mngube] were found posted at the kiosk. They admitted that three African males entered our tunnels. They further admitted that all the guards are allowing criminals to harvest [metal in] our tunnels in exchange for payment,” read the report. 

“Our force jumped into the tunnels to look for the suspects. A cigarette butt was found which indicated that there were people in the tunnels.”

The team waited outside for the alleged thieves who were forced to come out because of the extremely cold conditions inside the tunnels. They tried to flee but were caught before they could get far.

“The forces decided to go back into the tunnels and 17 rolls of skinned cables of about 6m each were retrieved. Nkwashu’s cellphone was [scrutinised]. One of the WhatsApp messages [found] was communication between Mdletshe [EnvironMongz supervisor] and the suspect discussing how to access the tunnels.

“Further, they also discussed the provision of a magazine and round to the criminals who access our tunnels. The forces interviewed the three Zimbabwean suspects. One of them pointed at Mtshali as the person who gave him access into the tunnels,” read the report. 

A source close to the investigation said the alleged cable thieves each paid the guards R450 to access the tunnels.

In May, the M1 double-decker in Newtown had to be closed off for several hours after fire broke out from underground in what was suspected to be the work of cable thieves who wanted to gain access to the underground tunnels. A hacksaw, screwdriver and other tools, together with a cellphone, were found at the scene. The incident in Braamfontein, left parts of the CBD, Newtown and Parktown without power for a couple of days.

In 2023, City Power spent R380m over eight months repairing damaged electricity infrastructure caused by brazen criminals stealing cables.

City Power said it was concerned that contracted security companies were also involved in cable theft.  

“These arrests are testament to our unwavering resolve as the municipal utility, in dealing with the problem of theft and vandalism, whether perpetrated by outsiders or those from within. Early this financial year we reinforced our security operations with extra intelligence and technology muscle to unmask some of these internal collaborators,” said the utility spokesperson Isaac Mangena. 

The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority’s (PSiRA) also condemned the involvement of guards in cable theft adding that they will also do their own investigation into the matter. 

“The authority will be investigating the involvement of security officers and reviewing their registration status for their involvement in such heinous crimes. PSiRA will not tolerate any violation of the Code of Ethics by security officers or security service providers. We will not hesitate to revoke the registration status of security officers or service providers involved in illegal activities,” said the organisation in a statement. 

The case against the accused was postponed to next week to verify their addresses and their status of being in the country.