City Power has restored electricity to customers in Sharonlea, Northwold, Bloubosrand and Riverbend following two separate cable theft incidents.

Technical teams from the Randburg Service Delivery Centre (SDC) worked around the clock to replace the stolen cables and safely restore the affected networks. Katiso Mosala, team leader and acting manager for unplanned power at City Power’s Randburg SDC, confirmed that both incidents required an intensive repair operation involving the replacement of stolen sections of critical electricity infrastructure.

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The first incident occurred at the corner of Suikerbossie Street and Malibongwe Drive, where approximately 20m of a 300mm aluminium cable was stolen, leaving customers in Sharonlea and Northwold without electricity. The second incident, in Bloubosrand, involved the theft of approximately 15m of a 300mm aluminium cable, affecting customers in the area, including Riverbend and surrounding suburbs.

“Despite the extent of the damage, City Power’s technical teams remained on site, working tirelessly to replace the stolen cables and restore electricity supply to affected customers,” said Mosala.

He commended the technical teams for their efforts, while highlighting the growing impact of infrastructure theft and vandalism on electricity supply. “Our electricity network is under siege due to theft and vandalism,” he said. “In the past few months, the utility has experienced numerous incidents of theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure, which includes mini-substations, switching stations and cables. This has a negative impact on our customers, who suffer prolonged power outages while we are busy repairing cables or replacing vandalised chambers.”

Also read: City Power engages Region B residents on ongoing power woes

The entity’s risk management department opened a case of theft and vandalism of infrastructure with investigations under way to identify those responsible. Mosala appealed to residents, businesses and members of the public to work with City Power and law enforcement agencies to safeguard electricity infrastructure. “We call on residents and members of the public to report illegal electricity connections, cable theft, vandalism and any suspicious activities around electricity infrastructure.”

Residents can report incidents anonymously through City Power’s anti-fraud and illegal connections hotline on 0800 002 587 or 011 490 7553.

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