Metro officials complicit in cable theft have been given a stern warning that they will be nabbed.
This is according to utilities MMC Abel Tau who said the scourge of cable theft was a big blow to the city and its economy.
“It is worrying that some officials of the metro are involved in this but they should know we have zero tolerance and we are going to smoke them out wherever they are.”
He said the rampant theft was enough to cripple the metro, “we keep replacing cables in the same area, and we have identified some of these places and we will surely get these guys in the act.”
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Tau said the approval of in-house security would go a long way to stemming the theft as an addition to technological security of motion detectors, biometric systems and drones.
Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa said the crime was serious and a reality.
“Cable theft is not a myth it’s a reality and its tantamount to treason because it collapses the economy of the city and country respectively,” said Mokgalapa.
“There are spots where a mere two weeks ago street lights were put in but they are stolen and we have to go back and replace in the very same spot,” he said.
“The essence is we are wasting city resources doing the same thing when those same resources could go to other areas.”
He reiterated that metro officials that are involved would feel the full might of the law adding that the community should report these thefts.
“Sometimes people see these guys cutting cables and do not bother asking them who they are or what they are doing and only later they realised that cables were being stolen.
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“It is a concerted effort to fight this scourge and we will continue to work with TMPD but the public has to come on board to and help us safeguard our infrastructure,” said Mokgalapa.
“Sometimes when your power is off it has got nothing to do with Eskom, even though I want to blame Eskom all the time but sometimes it is just rampant theft.”
He said the metro was hiring more electricians and technicians to build the capacity of regions to meet the demand for electricity maintenance, repair and replacement.
An electrical department official who did not want to be named said the metro averages more than five cable thefts daily and high voltage cables are the hot prize for the cable thieves.
Depending on the length of the cable stolen, the cost of replacement can be over R30 000.
The official said overhead lines could be stolen in less than five minutes.
ALSO READ: Stolen cables being replaced following west cable theft
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