The DA in the Steve Tshwete Municipality is concerned about the rise of cable theft and the municipality’s aging infrastructure that has prolonged load shedding.

“Campaigns on social media to raise awareness about cable theft won’t do much to stop criminals from committing this crime, and the municipality’s lack of concern for the issue poses a severe threat to the town’s economic development.

“Ratepayers and businesses cannot afford to be subjected to additional power cuts.

“Concerningly, the municipality appears unwilling to find a long-term solution to cable theft, despite the fact that replacing stolen cables costs millions of unbudgeted rands.

“Moreover, the municipality’s leadership needs to step up and review all their infrastructure, and implement changes in order of priority.

“For years now, the municipality has been detailing how their aging infrastructure keeps falling apart,” councillor Morgan Bruiners says.

Bruiners appealed to Executive Mayor, Mhlonishwa Masilela, “to come out of his shell and oversee the sustainable provision of services to communities.”

The DA has written to the municipality’s Community Safety and Infrastructure Development Services department urging them to identify cable theft hotspots.

Bruiners has also urged the MMC of Community Safety, Cllr Bathobile Shabangu, to urgently deploy the municipality’s law enforcement to patrol areas identified as hotspots and be more visible during load shedding.