The City of Ekurhuleni has resorted to removing the newly installed high-voltage copper power cables in Reiger Park after gangs of criminals have been helping themselves to the infrastructure in full view of the police.

According to the EMPD media liasion officer Katlego Mphahlele, on January 27 the metro deployed the EMPD’s Essential Infrastructure, Security and Loss Control units, the SAPS and the energy department to undertake the removal of the cables.

The removal project is expected to go on for about a week.

“Members of the public are requested to cooperate and work with the law enforcement,” said Mphahlele.

The energy department recently laid the underground cables, running from the main substation in the veld between Elsburg and St Anthony’s Road, to feed power to the Leeuwpoort Housing Project, near Commissioner Street and Rondebult Road.

According to Reiger Park residents, ‘heavily armed’ criminal gangs have been gradually stripping the city’s energy infrastructure with apparent impunity in Reiger Park. They accused the police and the energy department of having a lackadaisical approach to protecting the infrastructure and that the daily theft is often happening in full view of authorities.

Residents claim that they have had several meetings with police management and were told the station is not resourced to deal with the heavily armed thugs.

It’s also alleged that the police insisted that the protection of the city’s infrastructure is the responsibility of the metro, not the SAPS.

The Advertiser visited the area on January 25 and saw the devastation caused by thieves to cables meant to feed power to the new development.

Criminals had already dug up underground high-voltage power cables, from the main substation in the veld between Elsburg and St Anthony’s to Leon Ferreira Avenue.

Both the EMPD and SAPS members had their hands full trying to stop some community members who took advantage of the situation by uprooting the exposed cables.

While many residents have taken to social media to highlight the extent of the pillaging and destruction, there have been those who were seen trying to scavenge some of the pieces of cables the armed thieves left behind.

While at the scene on January 25, some community members who were found removing the cable told the Advertiser that due to the government’s inability to protect the infrastructure from the armed gangs who steal it at night, they have taken it upon themselves to remove the cables and take these to the police station for safekeeping.

It is unclear whether any of the removed cables made it to the police station as the Advertiser witnessed people running in different directions with the cables they had removed.

War

Resident Leonard Jansen, who is also the treasurer at the Reiger Park Centre for People with Disabilities, said these continued attacks on the power network are nothing short of a war.

Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni: Cables stolen right in front of the police station. pic.twitter.com/Ncll9F5biW

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 26, 2023

“We are clearly in a war. The police told us there is nothing there can do to stop the looting as they are not equipped enough to face the heavily armed perpetrators, believed to be a group of foreign nationals from Joe Slovo,” he said.

Jansen pointed out that a group of community members also tried in vain to protect the power network, but the heavily armed gangs opened fire on the community patrollers and a community member was shot and injured in the encounter.

“This also puts our lives in danger because residents who use the streets at night get shot at by the thieves.

The thieves also opened fire on the police patrol vans, which shows how brazen and heavily armed the cable theft syndicate is.”

Urgent intervention

Elaine Appies, of the Reiger Park Community Crisis Centre, said the stripping of the critical infrastructure has reached massive proportions and requires urgent and coordinated intervention by the metro and the SAPS.

Appies said they are left without power for days or even weeks as a result of frequent cable theft in the area.

“The consistent stripping of our critical infrastructure by these armed gangs is becoming a major worry for the community.

“Given the rate of theft and destruction of the infrastructure, if these syndicates are not stopped now the theft will continue till there is nothing left of our electricity network. I find it hard to understand how government can allow its essential infrastructure to be completely destroyed like this,” she said.

While many residents have taken to social media to highlight the extent of the pillaging and destruction, there have been those who were seen trying to scavenge some of the pieces of cables the armed robbers had left behind.

Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos said this criminal activity started last year at the substation in Reiger Park.

“I thought they will skip the stretch past the police station but these criminals dug up the cable in full view of the powerless police. A large contingent of public order police (POPS) was also deployed last night to prevent this scourge. People are not scared of POPS anymore,” said De Vos.

No comment

The Reiger Park SAPS spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

However, we asked the newly appointed Reiger Park SAPS station commander Lieutenant Colonel Bongani Dube what efforts are being made to stop the looting of essential infrastructure, including that of a cable outside the police station.

He, however, declined to respond to our questions, stating he doesn’t speak to the media.

The Advertiser is also awaiting comment from Ekurhuleni metro.

Also Read: WATCH: Armed gangs stripping Reiger Park of cables