JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – Cable theft and the rampant damage to and vandalism of timing devices on street lights are derailing City Power’s ongoing efforts to save electricity.
Street lights across Johannesburg have been fitted with timers that switch the lights off during the day and turn them on when it becomes dark but these timers have reportedly become a target of deliberate damage, which has led to the lights not switching off. This allows criminal syndicates to use these circuits for illegal connections thus impacting negatively on the security of neighbourhoods.
The damaged timers also drastically reduce the normal lifespan of the light bulbs which need to be replaced constantly and not only hampers efforts to curtail electricity consumption but also costs City Power millions of rands in repairs.
“These criminal acts hamper our efforts of providing quality service to the residents of Johannesburg and are costing the law-abiding ratepayers dearly. The theft and vandalism of public lighting infrastructure is not a victimless crime, but an act of economic sabotage against the law-abiding ratepayers of Johannesburg,” said Sicelo Xulu, managing director of City Power.
He said cable theft is conservatively estimated to cost the South African economy about R5 billion a year.
“The theft of and damage to timers exacerbates the power shortages we are facing as daytime illuminating street lights exert unnecessary pressure on the grid that is already strained.”
Xulu added that City Power welcomes the proposed changes to the 2015 Criminal Matters Amendment Bill which seeks to impose more stringent sentences to suspects convicted of cable theft. The electricity industry has lamented the scourge of cable theft and has collectively lobbied government to classify cable theft as an act of economic sabotage due to the debilitating impact of cable theft on the economy.
“We are encouraged by the gravity and urgency with which government is taking this issue, and we hope that the amendments to the Bill will be fast-tracked to bring the perpetrators of cable theft, and the syndicates behind them, to book. We are
confident that the imposition of maximum sentences will serve as a deterrent to those who selfishly regard our infrastructure as
vulnerable prey and an easy source of revenue,” Xulu noted.
City Power is looking into the development of technological solutions that will curb the theft of timers and other electricity infrastructure but in the mean time appeals to residents of Johannesburg to report acts of criminality and illegal connections to their nearest police station or to call City Power anonymously on the toll free 0800 00 251 number or 24 hour 011 490 7553 hotline.
