Cable theft threatens to shut down restaurants
Restaurants suffer due to constant cable theft in Hatfield.
A Pretoria east restaurateur fears his business will run aground following power outages because of cable theft in the area.
The owner of a popular seafood restaurant, who asked not to be identified, said his restaurant on Grosvenor Street in Hatfield suffered because of cable thieves.
He said last Saturday, three men were arrested trying to steal cables.
“These men were dressed like municipal workers but were travelling in an unmarked vehicle,” said the restaurant owner.
He said his security guard immediately alerted the police and a security firm who responded very quickly to the scene.
“The fourth man managed to escape.”
An illegal firearm was recovered and one of the men had an electric monitor around his ankle suggesting he was a parolee.
The substation on Grosvenor Street was recently repaired after cables were stolen from it, and two weeks ago, his restaurant was left in darkness.
He said he reported the outage to the metro but it was unable to respond timeously because its staff was on strike.
“Restaurant owners suffer when there’s an outage because their business relies on electricity.”
He said this was unacceptable and had to stop.
The metro had not responded at the time of going to press.
Also read:
Cable theft plunges parts of Pretoria into darkness
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