JMPD arrests suspect after copper cable theft attempt in Sophiatown

A 34-year-old man has been arrested after Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers allegedly caught him cutting municipal copper cables in Martindale, Sophiatown.

According to the JMPD, the incident took place on the morning of Sunday, 19 July 2026, when Tactical Response Unit (TRU) officers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted two men cutting a municipal copper cable outside the Public Safety Headquarters building.

Ground teams were immediately dispatched and approached the scene on foot. The suspects attempted to flee after noticing the officers, triggering a foot chase.

Police arrested one of the suspects, while the second suspect escaped and remains at large.

The recovered copper cable was seized as evidence, and the 34-year-old suspect was detained at Sophiatown SAPS. He is expected to face a charge of tampering with municipal infrastructure.

The JMPD praised the coordinated response between its camera monitoring team and officers on the ground, saying the swift action helped prevent further damage to critical municipal infrastructure.

The department added that infrastructure theft and vandalism continue to disrupt essential city services and warned that it will maintain a strong operational presence to combat crimes targeting municipal property.

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Source: Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) / Facebook