Glen An-Hills Neighbourhood Watch fights back against cable theft
According to the watch, there has been an increase in incidents of cable theft.
THE Glen An-Hills Neighbourhood Watch has decided to take a proactive approach to stopping copper cable theft by upping patrols.
According to the watch, there has been a number of incidents of cable theft, all of which took place during load-shedding.
On an annual basis, cable theft costs the eThekwini Municipality R120 million, leaving residents and businesses without electricity.
In recent months, the problem has shifted to north Durban suburbs, crippling electricity distribution and causing hour-long outages, including in Glen Anil.
Related article: Concern over cable theft increase in North Durban
Avi Pillay, deputy chairperson of the watch, said a coordinated effort was needed to halt cable theft in the area.
“Another member of the watch, Chris Perold, and I helped formulated a plan which has meant upping patrols specifically aimed at copper cable theft. It has been rampant in the last few months. We’ve seen incidents of cable theft consistently occur over that period. The thieves are targeting the overhead cables, particularly the ones that have four strands rather than the single cable between electricity poles.
“On average, the thieves will take down three cables. One guy climbs up the pole, snips on either end, then his accomplices load the items into a vehicle. They target the area during load-shedding. We had heard of reports where Durban North was consistently targeted, but now they’ve moved over to this area. We felt a coordinated effort was needed and upped patrols, specifically to target the thieves, which we suspect is a syndicate. They are professional, quick and are able to steal the copper cable within five minutes. Thanks to our increase in patrols, we have not recorded an incident in the past week now,” Pillay said.
Chairperson of the Glen An-Hills Neighbourhood Watch, Neil Olivier, added that prevention was better than cure.
“With so many incidents in the last few months, we knew if we upped our patrols that we’d be a hindrance to them. Unfortunately, because of cable theft, residents and businesses are left without electricity for hours on end. Once an outage occurs, the process to replace cables has to go through supply chain management which can take several hours. I encourage all residents to be vigilant and aware of this situation and report any incidents to the watch. Our approach now is that if you see something, say something,” he said.
The community is urged to report cable and infrastructure theft by calling 031 311 9611 or 031 311 9835.
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