Cameras installed in Cullinan and Rayton substations
Residents are positive about the cameras installed recently at both substations.
Through an initiative driven by the Cullinan CPF, cameras were recently installed at the Rayton and Cullinan substations to prevent further theft of the cables.
Eight cameras were installed at the Rayton substation, sponsored by local company Network Engineering Services (NES) in November last year.
Because of the success of the cameras at the Rayton Substation, the community helped to raise the money since early February for the same system to be installed at the Zonderwater substation to prevent vandalism.
Within two months, they raised enough money through generous contributions from Cullinan and Rayton residents and business owners. A four-camera system was installed at the Zonderwater substation.
Johann van der Linde from D-Force security said they will install an additional two cameras soon. The systems are linked to local security and CPF patrollers in the Rayton and Cullinan areas to respond to alarm triggers.
D-Force monitors the camera feed of the substation in Rayton and the Zonderwater substation is monitored by D-Force and Diamond Alarms.
“We only had three incidents at the Rayton substation since we installed the cameras. In one of these incidents, we caught a thief shortly after cutting the cable. He was walking down the main road with a 15m cable valued at R6 000 rolled up in a bag,” Van der Linde told Streeknuus.
Van der Linde explained the camera notifies the control room is three minutes. Then vehicles are dispersed to different locations around the substations, and we send a drone into the air.
Karen Yssel, chairperson of the Cullinan CPF, said, “We as the community must take hands with the City of Tshwane (CoT) and Eskom to stop the onslaught on our infrastructure. At the end of the day, it is us as residents and businesses who are mostly affected if criminals damage infrastructure.”
Kabelo Marakalala from Eskom said his team had to stop their repair work in Hamanskraal to sort out the power problem in Cullinan after the Zonderwater substation was vandalised in the last incident before the cameras were installed.
“The technicians had to switch off the power supply to reconnect the stolen cables.”
If a substation is not operating, it costs the CoT about R450 000 a day. The CoT stated its concern about the heinous acts of vandalism to infrastructure aimed at collapsing the services to residents.
Last year, a substation outside Rayton was targeted frequently for months. In the last incident, there were armed suspects, one of whom carried an R5 rifle that overpowered the security guards stationed at the substation.
The guards were then shot in the legs, tied up and held hostage while the suspects stole the wheels off their security vehicle.
The guards were found the next morning, still tied up. This specific substation was decommissioned after the incident since the thieves had stripped it bare.
Yssel said the community cannot afford more vandalism to substations, and that’s why they decided that something must be done to safeguard the infrastructure. Residents of Cullinan and Rayton are positive about the cameras installed recently at both substations.
Theophilus Mamujele, a resident from Rayton said, “I think it is a good idea that the cameras were installed at the substations, knowing that our infrastructure is protected and looked after.”
Robert Williams, a resident in Cullinan said, “It was a good idea to install the cameras because it will save the residents money. It must just be supervised properly.”
