‘Inside job’ cable thieves warned

As if ordinary cable theft was not bad enough, the metro also had to cope with so-called “inside jobs”, mayor Stevens Mokgalapa has revealed.

The metro has uncovered fraudulent claims by corrupt officials, exaggerating quotes on claims. “For example, a 5km stolen copper cable is claimed as a 10km cable, which is fraudulent.

“These officials are doubling quotes. We have officials who deal with service providers and contractors and these corrupt relationships have been cultivated over the years,” he told Rekord.

“The problem with supply chain management goes deeper because there are officials who are wheeling and dealing with service providers.

ALSO READ: Stop the ‘sexual grooming of children’ in classrooms

“Sometimes, transformers worth R250 000 are disconnected and a claim that they have been vandalised is lodged. They know if they hit five transformers, they have more than R1-million. It’s a massive problem that’s prevalent in the city – officials are colluding,” Mokgalapa said.

Everyone wants their slice and unfortunately, the residents suffer for the gains of a few people.

“Those that we find, we will take stringent measures against them.”

He said in the past seven months he had developed a sense that there were people who went to work just to see where they could loot. “We need to do away with that culture and make examples of those who do that.” Mokgalapa said while cable theft was still a massive headache, the metro was finally making inroads in fighting the problem.

ALSO READ: Police raid nets dagga at east school

“We have had few arrests, but with the measures we are introducing we are hoping more people will be nabbed. We are coming for them.”

“During the day you see guys digging and think it’s Tshwane officials working when they are actually thieves and at night they come to pull out the cables.”

While the existing anti-cable theft unit would be beefed-up, the metro was also finalising installations of smart and digital CCTV cameras citywide, in-house security to protect key assets.

He said the appointment of the unit’s top structure had been finalised and the metro would soon advertise security guard positions.

“We also want to roll out the cameras to all parts of the metro, including the townships, so they can assist in bringing down crime.

ALSO READ: NEWSFLASH: East homeowner guns down suspected intruder

“In some areas, we have achieved some success. In region six in the east, CPFs have worked with us in nipping theft in the bud at some hot spots.”

A tender for hi-tech security has been finalised and is in its advanced stages, according to Mokgalapa.

The tender has been on the cards for a while now, he said. It consisted of microdot detection, biometric installations, drones for aerial surveillance and electrical fire protection.

Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:

Rekord East
Rekord North
Rekord Centurion
Rekord Moot

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram