Sosh community members secure local transformer
Community members took a stand and increased the security of their power transformers following incidents of cable theft.
Residents of Soshanguve Block L Circuit collected money to install security measures at the local power transformer following multiple cable theft incidents and power outages in the area over the last three weeks.
The Tshwane metro however warned residents of Soshanguve not to tamper with its infrastructure.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo warned that the community was not allowed to tamper with the metro’s infrastructure in any way.
“Residents must work together with us to implement any feasible preventative measures to avoid any unsafe situations,” he said.
“In this particular instance, it shows the community’s frustration and irritation with theft and vandalism of infrastructure.
“However, it is not the right approach to countering unwanted behaviour impacting negatively on service delivery.”
Instead, the metro encouraged the residents to collaborate with the municipality in combating theft and vandalism of electrical infrastructure.
“We will continue to liaise with communities to this end.”
The frustrated residents voiced their concerns this week after cable theft left their streets in darkness.
A week ago, the residents spent about five days without a sufficient power supply due to cable theft.
They told Rekord they couldn’t cook and some didn’t have light in their homes.
“We needed to take a stand to prevent people from stealing cables from the transformer,” they said.
“We will give the metro access when they need to fix the transformer and lock it afterwards.”
Residents said they’re aware that this is not a long-term security.
They claimed that the people stealing cables once worked for the municipality or studied electric engineering.
“A random criminal won’t come and steal a cable because he knows the danger.
“But the people who either worked at the municipality as contractors or someone with the knowledge is responsible for this.”
Resident Tsakani Baloyi said four days without power was difficult for her to prepare food and also needed warm water to bathe her infant.
“It wasn’t easy. Electricity and water are two of the most important things in life and we struggled. We opted to buy a gas stove which can be dangerous at some point but we have to prepare ourselves should this happen again,” she said.
She said that the security system will help temporarily but can be easily targeted during the festive season.
Ronewa Mulaundzi said he had to have an unplanned braai so he could use up the food in his fridge before it spoilt.
“The fridge is empty before the end of the month because I didn’t have any other choice. If I didn’t braai my meat I’d have to throw it away anyway,” he said.
The community said they were going to ask the metro for a communal generator as the community is growing.
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