Damage done during cable theft is seen at the Roodepoort Substation, 20 September 2022. This comes as South Africa experiences stage 6 load shedding with the country experiencing rolling electricity blackouts nationwide. Picture: Michel Bega
In an attempt to fight cable theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Johannesburg, MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services in the City of Johannesburg, Jack Sekwaila, has secured R9 million to aid City Power in its efforts to deal with power supply interruptions.
This after City Power announced its plans to rollout “new and improved” security measures to deal with cable theft and vandalism.
The new measures include removing the underground network and replacing it with the overhead line, which is more difficult to steal.
With the R9 million that has been secured, the project is set to commence in a couple of weeks.
“A tender has already gone out and we plan to deploy the new security plan, which includes technology by April,” said City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava on Tuesday.
Mashava said City Power would also clear the shrubs where its cables run, for increased visibility and revamp of streetlights, most of which have been vandalised.
ALSO READ: City Power sees an increase in cable theft incidents during load shedding
“We didn’t build our infrastructure for load shedding. So every time we have load shedding, parts of our network is damaged. Criminals also take advantage of load shedding to steal and damage infrastructure which is key in delivering power supply,” said Mashava.
Earlier this year, Mashava announced the entity would make more resources available for the fight against cable theft as the thieves are known to be heavily armed.
“We are pumping more resources into the fight against cable theft and vandalism, and believe the war will be won, especially with the active involvement of the communities we serve,” Mashava said at the time.
In this current financial year, City Power was allocated R300 million for the fight against cable theft and infrastructure vandalism, said Mashava.
ALSO READ: City Power warns of imposters amid widespread cable theft
“The entity’s adopted infrastructure security strategy is centred around the communities, and includes crime information gathering and special security operations, the use of technology, armed response including local security contracting and recruitment of more security personnel.”
Mashava further encouraged customers to continue paying for their electricity services to ensure budget for maintenance and planned projects is available.
“We have made budgets available for City Power to be able to embark on some of these projects that will ensure a lasting solution to the power challenges. We will get it right.”
ALSO READ: Six arrested for cable theft in Joburg
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