Underground power cables stolen twice in 3 weeks

An Umkomaas resident was left fuming after thieves stole electrical cables for the second time in her area.
This after Maxine Smith, with help from Wendy White and Mariaan Anderson, dug a half-a-metre deep and 25m long trench themselves to lay a new cable that the community had paid for.
Thieves initially stole the cable on Saturday, 21 December at about 4am, leaving a nearby safehouse that houses 25 children without electricity for their Christmas party.
Maxine, who runs the Umkomaas Facebook crime page, appealed for donations from the community to replace the cable at a cost of R4,500.
“We quickly collected the funds, which was really nice and convinced a wholesaler to open up on a Sunday for us to buy the cable,” she said.
The three women laboured from 9am to 2pm to dig the trench and Maxine’s husband, Lionel, a qualified electrician, connected the cable.
“We laid the cable under roots and placed gum poles on top to make it more difficult for thieves, but on Tuesday night, 6 January, they stole it again.
I am so unbelievably angry right now. They must have seen or heard us replacing the cable. This would not have been a quick or quiet thing to do. If anyone saw or heard anything at the safehouse that night, please let me know.”
Sappi Saiccor has promised to replace the cable and cement over it to stop the continued theft.