Johannesburg’s power utility, City Power, has launched an urgent High Court application to challenge the legality of a search and seizure operation conducted by the Hawks at its offices last week.
The utility is asking the court to set aside the warrant used in the raid and to order the return of all materials seized. It has further alleged that Hawks officials have acted improperly during recent visits, including an operation in August that allegedly took place without a valid warrant at all.
The matter has been set down for a hearing next Tuesday in the High Court in Johannesburg. The Hawks have until the end of today to formally respond to the application.
The dispute appears to stem from an ongoing investigation. A spokesperson for City Power stated that the utility initially received a request for information in November 2024, to which it fully complied and assisted.
However, the spokesperson claimed that “a different set of investigating officers then later approached the utility with the same inquiry and staged a media spectacle in the process.” City Power views this as an attempt “to embarrass the entity and its leadership,” raising concerns about the investigators’ motives and “procedural irregularities.”
“Our intent seeks to hold the validity of the warrant and challenge its execution,” the spokesperson said. “We believe in fairness as a key tenant in administrative justice and maintain that investigations must follow lawful and transparent procedures that respect constitutional rights and also the rule of law, something the Hawks really failed to demonstrate in this matter.”
The outcome of Tuesday’s court hearing will determine the legality of the Hawks’ operation and whether the evidence gathered will be admissible.
