Tshwane to replace crime-attracting cables with alternative

The Tshwane metro has put plans in place to address the rising wave of cable theft in Centurion, which has been affecting residents and businesses in the area.

According to metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, the only affordable long-term prevention of copper and aluminium theft is a national ban on their scrap trade.

He said the city has been replacing copper cables with aluminium cables wherever possible, as aluminium is less attractive to thieves.

“The city’s Region 4 has experienced a new wave of cable theft and vandalism.”

“It varies from streetlight cable theft, meter box vandalism, low and medium-voltage cable and switchgear theft, as well as major infrastructure theft, such as the vandalism of substations and theft of transformers,” he said.

Mashigo said certain residents have taken proactive steps by safeguarding their meter boxes in strong cages to prevent vandalism.

“Cable theft has a financial toll on the city, with the cost of damage in region 4 alone estimated to range between R600 000 and R1.2 million per month,” Mashigo added.

He confirmed that this was the largest expense in the energy and electricity operational budget.

The residents of Wierdapark and Eldoraigne experienced frequent power outages last week due to a recent surge in cable theft, the last being on November 6.

This alarming trend has disrupted people’s daily lives and raised security concerns among community members.

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

“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 an outage last October and mentioned the risks posed to residents when security systems fail.

“Most of the time the alarm battery runs out, 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 outages directly impact her ability to service 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 where 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.”

Ward 70 Councillor Marika Kruger-Muller confirmed this distressing trend and revealed that there have been three incidents at the Eldoraigne substation in the past week alone.

“We haven’t had cable theft at the Eldoraigne substation for some time, but I have noticed that the substation is a cable theft hotspot,” she said.

Kruger-Muller said community members expressed a desire to help, suggesting measures such as pouring concrete over the cables to deter thieves.

However, she cautioned that this could create additional problems.

“The first issue is that it will create more heat. 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 still have to go through concrete first.”

Ward 69 Councillor Cindy Billson also highlighted the impact of cable theft on residents, stating that those in Eldoraigne experienced one power failure per week throughout 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 worried about being ambushed.

Billson said the biggest issue remained 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 faced in combatting cable theft.

“We try to combine resources with other members involved in combatting this matter so we can share information and identify hotspot areas,” he explained.

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

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

He said the CPF has also noticed a recent increase in opportunistic crimes in the area.

“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.”

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