Centurion relay power struggles

Residents of Wierdapark and Eldoraigne have been in darkness blamed on sporadic cable theft incidents.

Ratepayers said the theft has become increasingly frequent.

This alarming trend has left many in the community grappling with security concerns and significant disruptions to their daily lives.

Natasha Valvekens, a resident of Wierdapark, expressed her frustrations, stating that power outages often last up to 24 hours after a theft.

“This is an issue because when the power goes out, security systems do not work and even our electrical gates don’t work,” she said.

Valvekens recounted an experience when her home was broken into during a power outage last year in October and mentioned the risks posed to residents when security systems fail.

“Most of the time the alarms run out of battery power, making it easy for house robbers to break into people’s houses.”

She said she struggles to sleep at night when her alarm is not working and the electrical fence is not on.

Valvekens, who also runs a business, said the power outages directly impact her ability to serve customers.

“My employees can’t work during power outages, which affects my customers,” she added.

She pointed out that the problem has worsened over the past few months, particularly during the festive season when criminals seem to intensify their activities.

“We have stages when these criminals hit us hard, like now when we are approaching Christmas. These criminals want to make extra money by stealing cables during this time of the year.”

An Eldo Park resident who wanted to remain anonymous said that cables are often stolen shortly after being replaced.

“Within less than a week of being replaced, the cables are stolen again,” she said.

She said the thefts occur annually between November and December.

“Every year, we have to deal with these issues where there are multiple occurrences of cable theft.”

The resident said a sustainable solution has to be found to address this matter, which has been affecting them for a long time.

She said this has been happening for the past five years, so it is not a new issue.

“I hope that officials will find ways to combat and prevent these incidents from happening in the long run and not just temporary solutions.”

Ward 70 councillor Marika Kruger-Muller told Rekord that a distressing trend of cable theft incidents in her ward was disclosed to her.

Kruger-Muller said three incidents at the Eldoraigne Substation were recorded in the past week alone.

“I have noticed that the substation is a cable theft hotspot,” she said.

Kruger-Muller said community members wanted to help, going as far as suggesting measures such as pouring concrete over the cables to deter thieves.

However, she cautioned that this could create additional problems, such as increased heat and prolonged repair times when faults occur.

Another problem is that when the department needs to attend to a cable fault, it will take them longer to find and repair the fault if they have to go through concrete first.”

She said it’s hard to implement any protective measures at the Eldoraigne Substation as it is situated around private property.

Ward 69 councillor Cindy Billson also highlighted the impact of cable theft on residents, stating that Eldoraigne experienced at least one power failure a week in November.

“I brought the security companies together at one stage and asked them to assist with putting up cameras to monitor the situation at the power station.”

She said they were wary of going into the area because the bush is very thick and dense, and they were also worried about being ambushed.

Billson said the biggest issue remains the privately owned land surrounding the power station, which is not adequately maintained.

She emphasised that addressing this problem is a priority, “as it has cost the city significant resources and has left residents in the dark”.

Hentie van Staden of the Wierdabrug Sector 3 CPF shared the challenges in combatting cable theft.

He said it was difficult to catch the thieves in the act.

Van Staden said increased patrols have been implemented, with 14 additional patrollers added in the past month to enhance visibility and fight crime.

“This matter is on our radar, and all the other security companies are on the lookout as well.”

He said the CPF has also noted an increase in opportunistic crimes in the area recently.

“Our area is huge to cover, and sometimes it’s impossible to know where these thieves will operate next.

Sometimes it’s luck that we happen to pass them while they are busy, but at other times they can spot us from a mile away without us seeing them, and they go into hiding.”

The Tshwane metro has yet to comment.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

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

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