City Power employee implicated in R44 million Hopefield Substation corruption dismissed

4 March 2019

A City Power employee was dismissed on Friday, 1 March 2019, after he was found guilty of misconduct and collusion with contractors including granting payment of invoices for work not done at Hopefield Substation.

The employee, a project manager, was suspended when City Power initiated the investigation into his involvement. He was found guilty of gross negligence in his duties, resulting in financial loss to the City of Johannesburg.

The contracted involved was awarded a tender of R44 million to manage and conduct repairs at the Hopefield Substation.

The same contractor, Setheo Engineering, also received R66 million to upgrade the Eldorado Park Substation. But work was never done.

The two Directors of Setheo Engineering were arrested in 2017 after having colluded with City Power officials and received payments exceeding R66 million for work that was never completed in the building of the Eldorado Park sub-station. However, the NPA has opted to withdraw this case from the court roll.

They had secured the contract, issued under the previous administration, through fraudulent bank guarantees which led the City to believe they had the balance sheet to handle the project.

Corruption is public enemy number one, and we cannot allow corruption to steal from our residents. When acts of corruption take place, it undermines the hard work of honest officials in the City and honest taxpaying residents who expect services delivered in their communities.

As we continue our drive to eliminate corruption in the City, we ensure that we create a professional public services that service residents with pride.

I encourage people to report any fraud and corruption activities through our 24hour tipoff hotline 0800 002 587 or visit the offices of GFIS situated at 48 Ameshoff Street in Braamfontein.

Issued by Nico de Jager, MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, 4 March 2019