Another attempt made to steal South Road bridge main feeder cable
Mangena commended the vigilance of the community and their patrollers.
In the wee hours of Tuesday, November 15, cable thieves made yet another attempt to try and steal the main feeder cable at South Road bridge.
Fortunately, with the help of the community and West Suburbs Roodepoort Neighbourhood Watch patrollers, they were stopped in their tracks and ran off into Princess Informal Settlement.
Frik van Zyl who is the spokesperson of the neighbourhood watch said that they were alerted by community members from the properties close to the bridge that they were busy digging at the bridge.
“We mobilised our patrollers and entered from both sides of the bridge, as soon as they spotted us, they fled into the field next to the informal settlement. The cables were already exposed but luckily, they had not yet started to cut the cable, we did a few patrols for the rest of the morning. We asked the community to keep an eye if they spotted them again, to contact us immediately. We also reported it to the ward councillor who informed COJ General Manager that the cables are exposed,” said Van Zyl.
Ward 71 Councillor René Benjamin condemned the incident and said that she has asked City Power many times to bury the cable.
Councillor Benjamin also asked the residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity at the bridge.
When asked to comment on the incident, City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that they have a serious problem of vandalism and theft, especially around Roodepoort.
Mangena commended the vigilance of the community and their patrollers in this regard and told the Record that City Power has always advocated for the residents to take ownership of their infrastructure and protect it from thieves and vandals.
“We have also seen positive results from our collaboration with the police, Community Police Forum (CPF) and private neighbourhood watch and security where several cable thieves were arrested. We will continue to work with the community of plans to curb the scourge once and for all,” said Mangena.
