Cable theft causes havoc with resident’s lives
CHARTWELL- After 10 days without phone lines, residents of Chartwell North can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Resident Wilfred Rieger said a cable theft had left a lot of the area isolated with residents saying they had now had enough. Rieger stressed that he, along with the other residents, were not blaming Telkom for the incident, but rather the lack of security in the area. “Although we have security companies supposedly preventing crime, thieves can help themselves to Telkom telephone cables with impunity.”
According to a newsletter that was sent out to the residents in the area, there have been five cable theft incidents reported in the area over the last few months. The newsletter states that 250 meters of copper was stolen on 3 July. A further 150 meters was removed from the ground two days later and then again on 6 July when the area had another 150 meters stolen. On 6 and 7 July more cables were reportedly stolen from the area.
Rieger said there were rumours going around that Telkom would not replace the cable theft as there were too many incidents being reported.
Senior specialist of media relations at Telkom, Pynee Chetty, confirmed that the process for replacing the cables was underway and said this incident was the third major incident of cable theft in the area this financial year. “If more incidents occur, Telkom will have to review the incidents and decide if it was sustainable to continue replacing the cables.” He said if Telkom decided against replacing the cables, they would move all their customers onto an alternative product. “Residents must understand that we sympathise with them when incidents such as this occur. This is a national fanominom which greatly affects the economy. We understand that some residents businesses and lifestyles are affected by our lines being stolen. Our business is also affected and cable theft greatly affects Telkom’s income too.”
Chartwell resident Mike Kearney said cable theft in the area was extremely common and he had already moved onto a wireless product, to prevent being affected by the incidents. He said a section of Chartwell had been without Telkom cables for a couple of years and residents had been forced to buy alternative products.
Chetty said he believed security and the alertness of residents was vital in the fight against cable theft. “They might not be steeling your furniture, but the incident of crime will still affect you.” He urged residents, community policing projects and private security companies to report suspicious behaviour. “Cable theft has a snowball effect and needs to come to an end,” he said.
