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Cable theft sees power outages in parts of Johannesburg
Cable theft and illegal connections is costing the City of Johannesburg R3.6 billion annually.
Illegal electricity connections at Kya Sands in Johannesburg, 10 November 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
City Power says criminal activities have contributed to the power outages that some parts of Johannesburg have been experiencing lately.
This is after power outages were reported across several neighbourhoods on Sunday, prompting fears of load shedding unexpectedly returning.
The power outages affected a number of areas including Florida, Maraisburg, Witpoortjie, Honeydew, Constantia Kloof, Helderkruin, Wilgeheuwel, Weltevreden Park, and Discovery on the West Rand.
Cable theft
City Power has indicated that cable theft may have been causing the outages.
“This past week we were really responding to issues of vandalism of our infrastructure and also cable theft. It’s something that’s going on for some time,” City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena told eNCA.
Mangena also confirmed that a person died while trying to steal cables after gaining access into a substation in Newlands.
“There is an incident that we [spoke of] where one person was killed when transformer [at a] substation blew up. They were fiddling with [the transformer].
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“We don’t know what they were trying to steal, but the switches blew up and one person was killed [while] another one was badly injured in hospital the last time we check. [The third person] ran away.
“These are some of the problems we have [encountered]. [In some areas including] Mulbarton, we had a situation where cables were stolen,” he said.
He further said City Power was working on tackling cable theft.
“We are struggling with this issue of cable theft even there is some positives in terms of the arrest that we have seen happening.
“With the support of the communities, the Saps [South African Police Service] and the JMPD [Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department] they have been doing patrols with our security,” Mangena continued.
R3.6 billion annually
Earlier this month, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) multi-party government announced its plans to turn around service delivery in the metro as well as mayoral committee members (MMCs).
During the unveiling, MMC for Environment Infrastructure Service Department (EISD) Micheal Sun said fixing Johannesburg’s erratic power supply was a priority for the metropolitan municipality.
Sun indicated that Honeydew, located in the north of Johannesburg, was one of the worst-hit areas for cable theft and illegal connections, which is causing the metro to lose billion of rands.
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“There are constant power and water outages in Johannesburg, refuse is not getting picked up timeously or at all. Cable theft and illegal connections cost the city R3.6 billion annually,” said Sun.
Sun said the city would ideally like that R3.6 billion be utilised to fund other power projects that will reduce the metro’s dependency on Eskom.
He further said his team has identified hotspots for cable theft and illegal connections where CCTV cameras will be installed.
“The city is going after cable thieves… Johannesburg is the economic hub of the country, we can’t be without services,” Sun added.
Additional reporting by Narissa Subramoney and Cheryl Kahla
