Five Emfuleni municipal employees arrested over alleged electricity reconnection scheme

Five Emfuleni Local Municipality employees face fraud and theft allegations after allegedly taking payments from clients in exchange for illegally reconnecting electricity supplies, police said.

The Gauteng Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) has arrested five Emfuleni Local Municipality employees over an alleged scheme to illegally reconnect electricity supplies in exchange for payments made directly into their bank accounts.

They are facing allegations of fraud, theft and tampering with essential infrastructure, police said.

The group was arrested during a takedown operation on August 21, 2026, in Vanderbijlpark.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the suspects are employees of Emfuleni Local Municipality, attached to its Revenue and Electrical departments.

“Preliminary investigations have established that the suspects allegedly operated a scheme in which they misrepresented themselves to municipal clients as duly authorised officials who could reconnect electricity supplies that had been disconnected by the municipality,” Mathe said.

Clients were allegedly instructed to pay varying amounts directly into the suspects’ bank accounts in exchange for the illegal reconnection of electricity, she said.

Mathe said the suspects are also alleged to have unlawfully reconnected electricity supplies without municipal authorisation, resulting in the illegal use of electricity and financial losses to the municipality.

“The Gauteng PKTT will continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that those who abuse their positions for personal financial gain are held accountable,” Mathe said.

The five suspects are expected to make their first court appearance Monday.

“The investigation remains ongoing, and further arrests are anticipated,” Mathe said.