Police officers face disciplinary action after cables stolen in front of Reiger Park police station

The Reiger Park police officers who allegedly stood by and looked on as groups of people were uprooting and stealing copper cables in front of the police station are now in hot water.

Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni: Cables stolen right in front of the police station. pic.twitter.com/Ncll9F5biW

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 26, 2023

According to Reiger Park residents, ‘heavily armed’ criminal gangs, believed to be zama zamas, have, for the past couple of months, been gradually stripping the city’s energy infrastructure with apparent impunity in the township.

They accused the police and the energy department of having a lackadaisical approach to protecting the infrastructure and claimed that the daily theft is often happening in full view of authorities.

Residents were last week shocked to also see groups of people, in broad daylight, stealing cables – right outside the police station. It’s believed that these groups consisted of community members and gangs of cable thieves (zama zamas) from the nearby Joe Slovo informal settlement.

Residents took to Facebook to express their concern for the level of cable theft in the area. One of the several videos they posted on social media show a group of men carrying away uprooted cables while the police and residents are helplessly standing and watching.

Disciplinary action

According to Gauteng police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo, the station management has initiated a departmental disciplinary action against the members seen on one of the videos standing and watching while the groups of people were digging out electric cables.

“The District Commissioner Major General Anna Sithole has deployed extra forces to Reiger Park Police Station following the incident.”

“The extra forces comprise of members from the District, Essential Infrastructure Task Team and Public Order Police. Some of the stolen copper cables have since been recovered,” said Masondo.

Police are investigating cases of theft and tampering with essential infrastructure after the incidents last week. No one has been arrested yet.

Sithole has condemned the incident.

The brazen heavily armed thieves also recently opened fire on the police who were trying to stop the looting, according to a police source.

Removed

The City of Ekurhuleni has resorted to removing the newly installed high-voltage copper power cables in Reiger Park after gangs of criminals have been helping themselves to the infrastructure in full view of the police.

The energy department recently laid the underground cables, running from the main substation in the veld between Elsburg and St Anthony’s Road, to feed power to the Leeuwpoort Housing Project, near Commissioner Street and Rondebult Road.

While many residents have taken to social media to highlight the extent of the ongoing pillaging and destruction, there have been those who were seen trying to scavenge some of the pieces of cables the said armed thieves left behind.

While at the scene on January 25, some community members who were found removing the cable told the Advertiser that due to the government’s inability to protect the infrastructure from the armed gangs who steal it at night, they have taken it upon themselves to remove the cables and take these to the police station for safekeeping.

It is still unclear whether any of the removed cables made it to the police station as the Advertiser witnessed people running in different directions with the cables they had removed.

Cable theft has been plaguing the community since last year, according to residents.

Residents, who have been complaining about cables being stolen all along, pointed out that a group of community members also tried in vain to protect the power network. However, the heavily armed gangs opened fire on the community patrollers and a community member was shot and injured in the encounter.

Also Read: WATCH: Metro rushes to remove power cables after thieves hit Reiger Park