Thieves steal cables during loadshed

Load shedding does not only create disruption in the lives of residents, but also provides an opportunity for cable thieves and vandals to access electrical sub stations and distribution gear, costing Polokwane Municipality millions per year.
Stakeholder Relations Assistant Manager of the municipality, Thipa Selala said in a media release on Tuesday that the municipality was working on restoring power supply in Bendor, Zone 6 Seshego and the Dalmada area where the supply of electricity was affected by cable theft. “A cable fault affecting the Dalmada Water Purification Plant since last night (Monday) resulted in higher areas such as Flora Park, Serala View, Ster Park and Bendor experiencing persistent water shortages,” Selala reported.
“It has come to the attention of the municipality that izinyokas are taking advantages of the load shedding situation by stealing cables at night in particular when the electricity goes off,” Selala said and cautioned that cable theft is a criminal offence punishable by law. “The municipality, therefore, appeals to anyone to assist with information that can lead to the arrest of those involved by contacting the police,” he advised.
Polokwane Observer earlier reported that, according to the municipality, an average of three cases of theft of electrical cables and infrastructure are reported in and around the city on a weekly basis and this is seriously affecting service delivery to communities.
Matshidiso Mothapo, Communications and Marketing Manager of Polokwane Municipality said that most of the theft is happening at settlements outside the city whilst most of the vandalism of street lights is happening in most parts of the city area including areas like Nirvana and Westenburg.
“Only half way into the current financial year, more than R2 million was spent on replacement of stolen cables and vandalised infrastructure like street lights and electrical boxes. About 500 meters are replaced bi-weekly and it is estimated that around R4 million will be used by the end of this financial year for replacement cost and repairs of vandalised and stolen infrastructure. Furthermore this high rate affects the municipality’s response time,” Mothapo reported and added that instead of improving on the current electrical infrastructure, the municipality spends huge amounts of money on a weekly basis attempting to replace stolen cables at numerous areas within its jurisdiction. This is money that could be used for implementation of new infrastructure like robots, street lights and electrification of villages.
Mothapo quoted the municipality’s Director for Engineering Services Nditsheni Sikhauli to have said: “Cable theft is serious because if we are losing a minimum of 500 meters of cable per week it amounts to R50 000 replacement value per week and R200 000 per month.” He further stated that this issue might lead to a serious impact on the municipality‘s budget for service delivery.
He said vandalism of boxes and street lights pose a threat of injuries, electrocution and disruption of electricity. The municipality has been alerting people to be careful at all times and they were encouraged to report cases to the numbers provided.
At time of going to print, the SAPS provincial communications office did not comment on the relation between load shedding and criminal activities.

Story: BARRY VILJOEN
>>barryv.observer@gmail.com