SEVERAL members of the Glenhills Neighbourhood Watch ripped out and confiscated more than 200 metres of illegally connected cables running into the Malacca Road Informal Settlement. Since May last year, the neighbourhood watch and the city have confiscated more than 700 metres of illegally connected cables.
On Thursday morning, Robin Candy, chairman of the Greenwood Park CPF, along with several residents found that residents from the settlement had been siphoning power from a street light outside Rivers Church. What’s more, much of the cable had been hidden underground and ran for several metres through a dense thicket of bush. The cabling continued across Ryde Place and Malacca Road and had been concreted over.
Cable and electricity theft costs the city around R300-million annually.
“This is an ongoing problem at the settlement and a potentially dangerous one too. Last year the dump was left without power because of cable theft. And two months ago, we found illegal connections running from Rinaldo Park. So many of the wires running the length of the settlement are exposed and could easily kill the residents and children. The illegal connections are used to power stoves, radios and television sets of more than 200 people at the informal settlement,” said Candy.
