The Tshwane Metro has confirmed that maintenance work along the Unisa corridor and Fountains Circle is scheduled for September 2026, following renewed concerns from Groenkloof residents about overgrown vegetation and repeated cable theft.

Residents have long raised concerns that dense grass, bushes and weeds along the Unisa boundary provide criminals with cover to target electricity infrastructure.

Responding to questions from Rekord, metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said: “Any open veld or dense area where municipal infrastructure runs through is likely to be targeted by criminal activities such as cable theft and vandalism.

“However, the city manages such threats through rotational maintenance of vegetation to improve visibility and accessibility.”

Mashigo said the next maintenance operation in the Unisa or Fountain Circle precinct would include grass cutting, weed control and tree pruning.

“The next grass cutting, weed control and tree pruning maintenance work is scheduled for September 2026 to improve visibility in the area,” he said.

However, the metro cautioned that it could not clear all vegetation from the area because trees provide ecological and environmental benefits.

The response comes after Groenkloof residents, supported by the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), launched a petition calling for urgent intervention following repeated cable theft and electricity outages, stating that they want vegetation cleared along the Unisa boundary and maintained every three months.

Mashigo said the metro strives to maintain all public spaces, but acknowledged that resource constraints can sometimes interrupt maintenance schedules.

FF+ mayoral candidate Willie Spies said the municipality had failed to act despite these numerous requests to clear the overgrown embankment.

“Residents are paying rates and taxes, yet they are forced to spend their own money maintaining municipal land because the metro has neglected its responsibilities.

“The thick grass, weeds and bushes provide cover for criminals, make existing security cameras ineffective and contribute directly to the ongoing cable theft problem.”

The petition also urges the metro to work with Eskom to implement proven anti-cable theft measures, including replacing copper cables with materials that have little scrap value, installing vibration sensors and radio monitoring systems.

Spies said this will armour vulnerable cables and strengthen co-operation between law enforcement agencies and private security companies.

He added that the FF+ would continue pressing the municipality until meaningful action is taken.

“Ratepayers have the right to a reliable electricity supply and a safe environment. We will continue applying pressure until the area has been cleared and effective measures are implemented to curb cable theft,” he said.

The party also plans to approach the University of Pretoria and Unisa to seek their co-operation in addressing the recurring theft along the institutions’ shared boundaries.

Groenkloof Residents’ Association chairperson Francois Geringer said previous security interventions had shown that preventative measures could work.

According to Geringer, surveillance cameras installed at one hotspot prevented cable theft there for more than a year.

However, he said criminals had simply moved to another section where dense vegetation now allowed them to operate unnoticed.

“We have to get more cameras in, but we can’t put a camera in if it’s overgrown,” he said.

The association has submitted a Community Upliftment Programme (CUP) application that would allow residents to clear vegetation more quickly whenever new hotspots are identified.

Geringer urged residents not to confront suspected cable thieves themselves.

“People are walking around trying to catch the cable thieves, which is extremely unsafe for them,” he said.

Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson said cable theft continued to pose a significant challenge in Groenkloof.

“The most recent confirmed incident occurred during the second week of June when thieves targeted the Unisa and University of Pretoria boundary.”

According to Wilkinson, that incident once again highlighted the vulnerability of the existing electricity infrastructure and the need for permanent preventative measures rather than simply replacing stolen cables after every incident.

He shared that he had engaged metro officials and senior leadership about engineering solutions, including relocating vulnerable sections of the network to make them less accessible to criminals.

“At this stage, however, the City of Tshwane has not yet communicated whether these proposals will be accepted or implemented,” he said.

He confirmed that the residents’ association and the FF+ had initiated a second petition calling on the municipality to clear the dense vegetation.

While supporting the principle of a CUP, Wilkinson said he had requested additional technical information and broader stakeholder consultation before endorsing the current application.

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