Just as Joburg Water is starting to evaluate tender submissions to beef up security at its properties, 53 more criminal incidents have been recorded in the past seven months.

JW spokesperson Nolwazi Dhlamini on Thursday said between July 2022 and January, 53 criminal incidents were reported at its sites.

She said the incidents include armed robbery, damage to property and theft. 

“These crimes committed at Johannesburg Water properties put the entity's employees and security guards at risk of harm, as many of the incidents occurred while they were on duty, such as being held up at gunpoint in some of the cases,” said Dhlamini.

In its annual report for the 2021-2022 financial year, JW said a total of 85 incidents were reported at its sites as of June 30 2022. This takes the tally to 138 incidents committed in the past 19 months. 

This necessitated the entity to put out a tender to introduce technological means to beef up security.

Dhlamini said the tender officially closed last week Friday.  

“The evaluation process will take place over the next few weeks. The tender is expected to be awarded in March 2023, should the process run smoothly. Implementation of the project is expected to begin before the end of the 2022/2023 financial year.”

Last week, Sowetan reported that of the 85 incidents, there were 28 incidents of theft of property such as batteries, lights and solar panels, among others, 25 copper cable thefts, 21 acts of vandalism, eight of armed robbery, one of murder and two of injury on duty.

''Some of the security challenges experienced include criminal incidents against employees and security guards in the line of duty, theft and vandalism of infrastructure and assets...” reads the report

In the report, JW said to reduce the number of these incidents, initiatives such as an annual threat-and-risk assessment were conducted to identify risks and mitigations for all company sites.

It said a tactical armed response company was appointed to prevent high-risk incidents by armed criminals.

“This service is also used to escort our employees into volatile areas. An automation plan for the top 10 high-risk sites that have experienced a high number of infrastructure vandalism and injury/assault of security guards has been concluded,” the report stated.

This plan will include the introduction of CCTV and alarm systems to alleviate crime.

“This plan was informed by market research to determine the suitability of effective electronic and technical security equipment to ensure pro-activeness, early detection and the deterrence of future incidents.

“The research was based on two aspects, online security intelligence and integrated security system for CCTV and alarm system. A tender for the automation of the first five sites is under way for implementation in the 2022/23 financial year.”

kokam@sowetan.co.za