A senior KwaDukuza municipality employee has been suspended after a number of electrical cables were allegedly found at his Groutville home during a recent raid.
The official, known to the Courier, holds a management position in the electrical unit department.
When questioned at Ballito’s recent integrated development plan (IDP) Mayoral Imbizo, electrical engineering business unit executive director Sibusiso Jali said he was not able to comment.
Disciplinary investigations are underway.
The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act which came into effect in 2018 provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years jail time for damaging critical infrastructure.
The minimum sentence for first time offenders for cable theft is 3 years.
Curbing illegal electricity connections, infrastructure theft and vandalism has been an ongoing problem for KDM, with illegal electricity connections continually being removed.
The KDM audit report presented to council at the end of January recorded a staggering R115 million for energy losses.
Illegal connections, vandalism and cable theft were attributed to the loss.
In August, DA Ward 22 councillor Privi Makhan said power outages that plagued some parts of Ballito had been attributed to copper cable theft.
“There appears to be a clear pattern emerging of a syndicate operating locally. The financial impact on municipal infrastructure is massive but the impact to ratepayers is equally severe,” she said.
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Apart from electricity disruptions, cable theft also affects CCTV networks, telephone and internet access which leads to loss of productivity while voltage fluctuations destroy equipment and appliances.
Despite improved legislation, Makhan raised concerns that the cases had not been opened with Saps. Copper sells for around R80 a kilogram and is sold to scrap dealers or used in illegal electricity connections.
Copper is easily accessible, poorly secured, and relatively easy to steal and to sell making it an easy target for criminals.
Makhan called for a greater engagement with Saps, community safety, neighbourhood watches and local security companies.
The public can report electricity and infrastructure theft anonymously to the electrical engineering services at 032 437 5088 or 060 900 3998.
These include exposed electrical wiring, low-hanging cables, illegal connections, vandalised electrical equipment such as substations and exposed electrical cables due to theft or vandalism.
