Load-shedding sees increase in overhead cable theft in Valhalla

There has been an increase in outages in Valhalla as criminals use load-shedding as a cover to steal cables, according to a local ward councillor.

“Unauthorised people may appear to be working on the power cables and residents must be on the lookout for any suspicious activities during load-shedding,” said ward councillor Ina Strijdom.

Strijdom said that teams worked hard to restore power when the thefts occur.

“I will keep asking for the replacement of these cables. I am sure it will be done as soon as the metro’s financial situation stabilised,” she said.

Wierdabrug police spokesperson Divine Nkuna confirmed the increase in cable theft.

“As a station, we will try to patrol more at areas that are experiencing load-shedding during the late hours,” she said.

Nkuna urged residents to work with the police to bring such cable thieves to justice.

“Any unfamiliar vehicles in the area might be posing as municipality workers during load-shedding. They should be reported to the SAPS.

“No vehicles or personnel should be working on electric cables during load-shedding unless verified.

“We urge the residents to contact the police immediately when encountering suspicious activities in the area,” she concluded.

TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba, however, said that they had received no complaints about cable theft in that area in the past three months.

In 2022, Eskom said that the theft of cables, overhead lines, transformers and conductors was costing Eskom around R2-billion per year.

“Illegal electricity connections and cable theft often lead to prolonged power outages. This affects businesses and essential services as well as the day-to-day lives of society, and harms the economy.”

These types of crimes are not only confined to the theft of overhead cables but also include the theft of transformer oil and vandalism.

“People often steal oil from transformers at substations or on the network, which they use to fuel cars or other equipment. Some people even use this oil for cooking, which is a serious health risk as it is a fuel oil and not a cooking oil,” said Mahamba.

“They would break open the transformer before using a hosepipe to draw the oil.

“This is illegal and will get you into trouble when you are caught. It also damages the equipment because when the oil is drained from the transformer, it will break down as it cannot function without the oil. Because of this, the area to which the substation supplies electricity will be without power.”

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