Centurion suffers from continuing cable thefts
“As repair teams replaced stolen cables in one area, thieves struck in the next.”
Cable theft in Centurion is putting strain on businesses, households and water treatment plants.
Tshwane metro infrastructure MMC Daryl Moss said cable theft was a serious concern in parts of Centurion.
“Apart from the direct losses, we also have indirect losses,” Moss said.
He said businesses were suffering because food would go rotten and operations like water and waste processing plants would lose production time, resulting in water quality issues.
In June Rekord reported that cable theft was also increasing the spillage of raw sewage into the Hennops river.
The Sunderland Ridge waste water treatment plant has had no electricity for weeks because of cable theft, during that month.
Workers at the sewerage plant, who had asked to remain anonymous, said cable theft was a regular occurrence at the facility.
Tshwane metro safety and security MMC Derrick Kissoonduth said this week alone there had been four arrests of cable theft in Centurion. Earlier five thefts had been prevented before any damage could be done.
Kissoonduth said within the week, 480 kilograms of copper had been recovered.
He said due to the criminal activity Centurion has also intensified security.
“We’ve got a full-on task team now for cable theft,” Kissoonduth said.
He said Centurion currently had a major problem and efforts had been put in place to push cable crime out of in Centurion.
He said there was a task force utilising a drone and other systems, specifically meant to tackle cable theft.
“A lot more is currently being done to curb the crime and it is a serious matter.”
Recently vice chairperson of Lyttelton CPF (LS2), Loot van Dyk, said the policing forum had noticed an increase in cable theft in the Lyttelton area.
He said most of the criminal activity was taking place along the train line.
On Friday three men were arrested in Valhalla for cable theft.
The Tshwane metro police department (TMPD) said its officers had received a tip-off about a bakkie driving around Valhalla with a load of cables.
Metro officers managed to locate the bakkie with three men and stopped it, and found aluminium overheads weighing 202,5kg.
Police said the men were unable to produce a permit for the cables and were arrested for possession of suspected stolen property.
The cables were suspected to be stolen from the Tshwane metro.
Cable thefts were reported in several areas of Pretoria North between last Tuesday and Friday.
Residents said they suffered through almost day-long power outages.
“As repair teams replaced stolen cables in one area, thieves struck in the next,” said ward councillor Yolanda Duvenage.
On Saturday Akasia residents in the west of Pretoria also reported outages after apparent strong winds damaged power lines.
“The power was off on Saturday in some areas,” said ward councillor Marnette Sutherland.
By Friday afternoon and Sunday the power had been restored.
Power failures can be reported by SMSing “Power” followed by your account number to 082-612-0333 or 44676. Example: power 5120369 to 082-612-0333.
For prepaid accounts, use the water and sanitation account number.
Also read:
Hennops suffers from cable theft
Vandalism of electric sub stations and cable theft on the rise
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