Durban North business owner suffers as lights go out
The business has been under siege for the last five months says local businessman.
A DURBAN North businessman says he is at his wit’s end following a third break-in to his graphics company in the past four months. Warren de Villiers, whose business is situated on Beechfield Crescent in Springfield Park, said the lack of street lights in the area has contributed to thefts and attempted break-ins in the area. The area, which encompasses three roads, has been without street lights since May last year, a problem the City has been unable to fix.
The break-ins, attempted break-ins, theft of copper pipping and installation of new security features have cost the businessman around R200 000.
“It’s an absolute nightmare. We’ve been reporting the fault for months and each time we get a reference number but no follow-up. At times we are told to contact the electricity depot directly who are also unable to help. On Friday last week, the ‘white glove gang’ (the gang always uses white gloves in break-ins), attempted to break-in to my business for a fourth time. They were unsuccessful but used the cloak of darkness to attempt to break-in. They left their bolt cutters behind. The business behind us has also been robbed several times.
“The criminal element is using the darkness to commit crimes. I’ve also had several of my copper pipes stolen only to have a R12 000 water bill from the City. As a business we’ve taken every precaution necessary but there has to be a reason as to why the street lights aren’t being fixed. Sea Cow Lake and Beechfield Crescent are the two streets affected,” he said.
De Villiers said with winter approaching he feared even more break-in attempts.
“We’ve caught the guys on CCTV footage and you see them use the darkness to creep alongside our walls. They derail our gates and reverse their car in and switch off their lights so when security vehicles drive around the area they don’t notice anything untoward,” he said.
Last year, the City identified roads with high cable theft and said they could not sustain the cost of replacing the cables each time they were stolen. In some areas of uMgeni Park, the electricity department had mitigated the theft by installing overhead cables. However, nothing has been suggested for the high cable theft in the Springfield Park area.
