The City of Cape Town’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department is urging residents to be aware of scammers that are pretending to be City electricity officials.
According to a statement from the City, teams have been made aware of scammers in the Sanddrift area who pretended to work for the City to gain access to a resident’s home.
The resident in Sanddrift reported that two scammers visited her home claiming to work for the City’s Electricity Department to check on electricity prepaid meters in the area.
After the resident allowed the scammers to enter their home, they started to steal items while the resident was not looking.
The City has asked residents to always be alert, especially the elderly residents.
While electricity staff and contractors are doing legitimate meter readings and other work, residents are asked to be alert and to verify the official’s identity with the City before allowing them access to their property.
Mayoral Committee Member for Energy in City of Cape Town, Xanthea Limberg, said that all legitimate City staff and contractors will identify themselves before asking for access for legitimate City related electricity work.
The identification card must display: the City logo, the name and surname of the staff member or mandated contractor, and must contain an embedded photo of the staff member or mandated contractor.
“While the City thanks our residents for being vigilant, we ask you to please refrain from any type of aggressive action such as threats or intimidation of legitimate City staff and contractors doing meter reading or other critical electricity infrastructure work in their neighbourhoods,” Limberg said.
To verify people should contact the City’s Call Centre on 0860 103 089 and to report suspicious behaviour people should contact 0800 1100 77.
Tips for residents
– Residents should always verify the work order number when an official visits your home.
– Check that official’s identification card is City-issued.
– The ID card must display the City logo, the name and surname of the staff member or mandated contractor, and must contain an embedded photo of the staff member or mandated contractor.
– If unsure about the person doing the meter reading then contact call the City’s Call Centre.
– Report suspicious behaviour to the City’s law enforcement agencies or to the SAPS.
IOL