Over the past two months cable theft has increased in Centurion and parts of the east of Pretoria.
According to DA Tshwane spokesperson for electricity, Ina Strijdom, the most affected areas in Centurion were Eldoraigne, Doringkloof, Erasmia, Irene, Thaba Tshwane, Highveld and Eco Park.
“Other areas such as Mamelodi, Rosslyn and the Moot also fall prey to the cable thieves. More recently the Mooikloof and Garsfontein area was without electricity for nearly two days due to underground 11kv cable theft,” said Strijdom.
She added: “It is mostly underground cables in open/isolated fields being targeted. There are kilometres of underground cables supplying electricity from the sub-stations. Guarding these cables is nearly impossible. Overhead cables are also stolen but to a lesser extent.”
Strijdom has also expressed her concern over the financial impact cable theft had on the city.
“What is the financial and economic impact on the metro? If an area such is Centurion is without power for three days, as was the case with the Brakfontein and Kentron sub-stations cable theft, the metro loses millions in revenue.”
City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo admitted cable theft was costing the city millions. “Cable theft is costing the city millions annually in replacing stolen and damaged cables, including vandalized infrastructure. The cost of replacing cables include material and labour.”
He added that cable theft not only affected the city, but industry as well. “Copper theft strategies of stealing and vandalizing the electrical infrastructure keep changing and all the necessary efforts are done to deal with this criminality. Copper theft is a national challenge affecting municipal entities like Eskom, Telkom and Prasa.”
Mashigo added that the Tshwane metro police department (TMPD) was working closely with the energy and electricity department to combat cable theft. “There is a special task team in the TMPD responding to suspicious elements of cable theft, including the patrolling of concerned areas in the city. There are contracts in place under the management of metro police offering different services of combating theft and vandalism, such as guarding and patrolling services.”
The TMPD team dedicated to tackling drugs and cable theft and to guard sub-stations in Pretoria, the special projects team (SPT), has been successful. Strijdom has however criticised the lack of resources and officers designated to the SPT. “I commend the SPT for their successes, but their resources are limited.”
She added: “How does a team of 20 people, working in four shifts, five men per shift, manage to curb cable theft throughout the whole of Tshwane? The team might be busy in Centurion while all the underground cables are stolen in Soshanguve or Rosslyn.”
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