A private school and residents along Peter Road are once again facing severe disruptions following repeated incidents of cable theft that have left homes and the school without electricity for almost a week.
This comes after messages were shared to various community WhatsApp groups on November 21, as residents complained about a massive power outage in the area, which was not attended to despite queries being logged with City Power (CP).
According to Excelsior Private School owner John Kent, the most recent outage occurred after 10 metres of cable were stolen outside a house on Peter Road, not far from the school, leaving electrical boxes completely stripped on both sides.
Fidelity Security guards, who were first on the scene, immediately reported the incident to the police, who later directed them to report it to CP.
Kent adds that further down the road, thieves stripped the meter box entirely, vandalising the unit and stealing an additional nine metres of cable.
“We reported this several times to CP, and although we received a response, no action was taken. We stayed without any electricity and had to resort to using solar panels for our learners who were still busy with exams, to accommodate Computer Application Technologies lessons, and for our computers in our offices to be functional.
“I had no choice but to ask an independent contractor to come and assess the problem because we were not receiving a response from CP. We also recently discovered that our school is being used as a hideout for cable thieves who continue to cut our fence and enter our property illegally.”
After a site visit from the Roodepoort Northsider on Tuesday, November 25, the following day, Kent confirmed that they had stolen more cables two houses from their school after independent contractors arrived to replace the cables.
The Northsider has sent questions to CP on the persistent cable theft on Peter Road, and a follow-up article will be published once a response is received.
Questions have also been submitted to the Honeydew Police Station and the Northsider is awaiting their response.
