The town is inundated with incidents of cable theft and vandalism and residents have felt the full brunt of electricity interruptions due to these crimes.
Corné Stoltz, ward councillor in Meyerville, said on Tuesday, May 17 that he regularly patrols the streets in the early hours of the morning to check on any criminal activity.
The Standerton Advertiser accompanied Stoltz on a trip to the industrial area and Meyerville the same day, finding glaring examples of shoddy workmanship.
Lekwa Municipality has their hands full attending to all the complaints, but with a total disregard to safety measures, the municipality has resorted to covering pipes with insulation tape.
An exposed transformer of 11000 KVA near the intersection of Arista Street and Mill Street in the industrial area was seen as well.
“It is a life-threatening situation,” Stoltz also said.
“Anyone walking past and touching the wires, can be electrocuted.”
Some businesses in this area have intervened and covered exposed cables.
Copper thieves broke into the mini-substation in Walter Sisulu Drive in April and vandalised it.
A business in town came to the rescue and did the repairs.
Just opposite a well-maintained park in Meyerville, a pole has wires sticking out.
Stoltz commented on the danger to children playing in the park, crossing the street and curiosity taking over when touching any of the wires.
Non-compliance to mandatory safety standards goes without saying.
The Standerton Advertiser contacted the communications manager of the municipality, Thobeka Mtshiselwa, on Thursday, May 19, requesting statistics, if any, on cable theft.
Mtshiselwa replied the same day that the request will be sent to the relevant department.
The newspaper reported on an attempt to steal cables in Vry Street in December last year.
Businesses were without power for more than 24 hours.
An explosion at the mini-sub next to FNB, in Princess Street in the same month, caused a power outage in the CBD.
Lekwa assessed the damage and tried to ring-feed other areas.
According to firefighters, a homeless man left his blanket/s inside the substation and started a fire on the pavement.
The blanket caught fire and oil leaking inside the transformer kept on igniting the fire.
Lekwa then urged the community to report cable theft at the nearest police station, saying this cost them millions of rands to replace.
Residents in Meyerville surely haven’t forgotten the lengthy power outage in November last year.
Cable theft then took place in Johann Street, Meyerville during load-shedding and power supply was interrupted.
Another request was made to contact the police with information on crimes related to vandalism and theft.
Lekwa was checking their records on cable theft on Friday, May 20 and no statistics were available at the time of going to press.
