Community wage war against cable theft
Centurion residents wanted blood for an alleged cable theft but what they got instead amazed them.
Angry Centurion residents descended on the Brakfontein substation on Sunday night in response to the umpteenth power outage in the area.
Reeds resident Eric Verwey said he pulled into his driveway when he noticed the power was out. He immediately jumped into action,assuming that cable thieves were at it again. Within minutes he stood in front of the Brakfontein substation but what followed next left him speechless.
Irate residents as far as the eye could see had made their way to the substation to investigate the cause of the outage. Verwey said there could not have been fewer than 80 vehicles parked around the substation and down the street.
“We were ready to combat these cable thieves face to face. An elderly man even jumped out of his vehicle with a hockey stick in hand. Things would definitely have gotten out of hand had we found anyone tampering with the substation,” he said.
Verwey said after spending about an hour investigating the matter, resident were told the power outage was a direct result of a veld fire under the Rietvlei primary line. “Every resident that came together to combat cable theft was an awesome display of community involvement. Well done boys, well done.”
Centurion residents had been plagued by cable theft for months on end.
The Brakfontein and Kentron substations had been hit numerous times leaving residents in the dark for days on end.
“If this was another cable theft it would have been the fourth one in a month,” Verwey said.
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Also read:
Theft disrupts Centurion power supply
Five more power stations targeted in Centurion
