No electricity for parts of Joburg this weekend as City Power battle cable theft, vandalism

City Power continues to grapple with the persistent issue of cable theft and vandalism in various parts of Johannesburg, particularly during the festive season when these crimes intensify.

According to the City of Joburg utility, recent infrastructure damage has caused power outages in the city’s central business district (CBD), Randburg, Roodepoort, and Lenasia.

City Power on cable theft and vandalism incidents

City Power acting media manager Robinson Nqola revealed that over the festive season, the utility has observed a troubling surge in cable theft and vandalism incidents around the inner city service delivery centre.

This uptick has led to a series of power disruptions across affected areas.

“Now, we’re actually sitting with one of those prolonged outages in and around the Joburg CBD, Marshalltown, and Selby, and it was also sparked by acts of vandalism.

“This occurred in our underground tunnels in the inner city,” Nqola told Newzroom Afrika on Friday.

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Nqola explained that while there are no CCTV cameras in the underground areas, City Power has updated its security strategy to tackle cable theft and vandalism.

The revised approach includes collaboration with the police and the integration of technology for better surveillance.

“We’re talking about a network whose length is about 5000km long so, we’re still working around making sure that we identify spots where these manholes are targeted and we use our resources, which are limited, to best possible use.

“And so we are working on ensuring that we infuse the use of technology in monitoring those tunnels and the vicinity around those areas,” he said.

Criminal activity surge during festive season

While these crimes are more prevalent during the festive season, Nqola emphasised that they occur throughout the year.

He further noted that the relative emptiness of Johannesburg during the festive season could make it easier for criminals to target infrastructure.

“If you walk around the CBD now, you’ll see that it’s a lot emptier than it generally is throughout the year.

“So, it’s perhaps easier for criminals to target this season because communities are not there to help us monitor these criminal activities,” he said.

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City Power has called upon law enforcement to allocate additional resources to help secure the city’s infrastructure.

Nqola stressed that the utility was doing its best with limited resources.

“It’s important to note that the money that we’re using to acquire services of private security would actually go towards reinvesting in our own network and making sure that it’s more effective and efficient.

“But because we’ve got this mammoth challenge of cable theft and vandalism, we cannot just sit back and hope that those who are tasked with the work of securing these essential infrastructure will do their part.

“We’re not saying that they are not doing nothing at all. They are,” he explained.

Arrests over cable theft and vandalism

In the 2023/2024 financial year, Nqola reported that at least 132 suspects were arrested in connection with cable theft and vandalism.

“We have also made additional arrests between then and now, and that is through the collaboration that we have with the South African Police Service [Saps] and [JMPD] Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department,” he added.

Nqola also acknowledged that some City Power employees may be involved in criminal activities, highlighting that the utility has strengthened internal control measures to address this issue.

“We understand that a syndicate of this nature cannot function healthily without internal collaborators.

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“So, we actually strengthened our own internal control measures to make sure that we flag these bad apples,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Nqola noted that efforts to apprehend the kingpins behind cable theft and vandalism are yielding positive results.

“Over the past few months, through this collaboration that we have with the law enforcement agencies, we’ve conducted raids across different scrap metal yards, and we’ve made a lot of arrests.

“Some of the people who have been arrested, we are pleased to say, have actually been convicted,” he said.

Restoration of power to Joburg areas

Regarding the latest incident, which occurred on Sunday evening and caused widespread outages, Nqola confirmed that progress was being made in restoring power.

“Yesterday, we managed to install, test, and bring back about six cables, so we’re only left with six additional cables.

“The team is confident that over the weekend, we should have completed installing those cables and conducted tests so that by Monday, we’re able to reinstate full supply to all affected customers or residents.”

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