It looks like there’s a long way to go before the metro solves the cable theft problem in Boksburg.
In the meantime, residents are being forced to bear with the ongoing power failures.
At one stage, thieves stole a 30m feeder cable, leaving residents without power for 60 hours.
Other areas affected by this trend are Plantation, Cason and parts of Boksburg North and Boksburg South.
According to Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos, a syndicate is responsible for the wave of electricity cable theft in Boksburg.
On May 2, Plantation and Boksburg North were without electricity.
“What’s worse is that the cables were stolen in the presence of security guards,” said de Vos.
“The security guards who have been deployed to guard the cables don’t have firearms, only a torch. Something must be done urgently because the thieves are cashing in on these cables,” he said.
Ward 22 councillor Ruhan Robinson has also been up in arms and desperately trying to get the metro to put security measures in place to prevent cable theft.
Robinson eventually ran a petition against the cable theft taking place near the Witkoppie substation. A total of 491 Boksburg residents signed the petition at the Westwood Spar on January 12.
According to Robinson, the petition calls for a solution from the Ekurhuleni municipality’s side to prevent cable theft.
“In Elizabeth Road there was no electricity due to cable theft. This was the second time in April that it was stolen. Power was out for about 14 hours once again.”
He said the petition went to council on January 31.
“The petition was inexplicably withheld by council and it was not sent to the petitions committee until the middle of March. It was only when I complained that the petition was not even being sought.
“Since then I haven’t had feedback on the petition,” Robinson said.
Atlasville has also been hit by power failures recently.
According to Ward 23 councillor André du Plessis, the cause is not clear, because it’s not a power fault or cable theft.
“The Boksburg electrical department has been very vague on why Atlasville has experienced 50 hours of power interruptions for the past two weeks.
“I have escalated this issue to the head of department as well as the city manager and I am still waiting for answers,” he said.
When the Advertiser sought comment from the metro in January, spokesperson Themba Gadebe said in order to prevent cable theft, they have a private security company that guards the electrical network cables.
“As part of the conditions of service, the security company pays for the cables that get stolen as well as the repairs,” he said.
We are still awaiting further comment from the metro.
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