City Power says it lost millions due to fraud at hands of staffers, contractors

JOHANNESBURG - Johannesburg City Power says the entity has lost most of its money due to fraud.  

Fifteen of the power utility's workers are facing disciplinary action linked to a multimillion-rand scheme to defraud the entity.  

City Power recently received a scathing report from the Auditor General (AG) that found weak internal controls in the organisation, leading to billions in irregular expenditure.  

ALSO READ: City Power did not take reasonable steps to avoid nearly R5bn irregular expenditure - AG

The utility has concluded an investigation that found some of its contractors were defrauding it.  

This was through the submission of fraudulent, duplicate and inflated invoices.  

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says payments to the contractors have been frozen pending a deeper analysis of their dealings with the entity.  

“We are also cooperating with law enforcement agencies to ensure that criminal elements are dealt with swiftly. The utility will not hesitate to take further legal action against any individual or any of our employees found implicated in corrupt activities.”  

Mangena said the collusion between City Power employees and contractors is also behind the theft of its infrastructure.