Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa told metro police and emergency services to fight saboteurs in the city.
Mokgalapa was speaking at the annual community safety parade at Pilditch stadium, Pretoria West, on Tuesday.
The city blamed power outages on vandals in the past.
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“We cannot tolerate the unprecedented levels of cable theft and attacks on city resources, land invasions, by-law transgressions and crime,” said Mokgalapa.
“This must be stopped.”
Mokgalapa said it was time municipal men and women in uniform “protected our city and clamped down on crime”.
“We cannot allow our city to be bullied by thugs and hooligans. Let us reclaim our streets back.”
Last month utility services MMC Abel Tau said the city needed a strategy to fight back against cable thieves.
“It’s shocking what is going on,” he said.
“It is blatant sabotage, we suspect there are people tampering with systems.”
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Mokgalapa said the TMPD was instructed to fight crime such as vandalism, land invasions and by-law transgressions.
He said they would receive the necessary resources.
“We must make sure crime prevention and by-law enforcement are at the centre of the city’s fight.”
Mokgalapa said while the city provided the tools to make the metro police’s jobs possible, he expected these “foot soldiers” to remain professional and “reclaim the streets”.
He also reminded them their job was providing a service to residents.
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