According to City Power, cable thieves were targeting residential areas, moving from one suburb to another.
Following a spate of incidents in the Kya Sands area in December, Blairgowrie has since been plagued by cable theft.
“Electricity and cable theft is a serious offence which compromises the stability of our network and affects service delivery to all our customers. In addition, it puts community lives at risk,” said Tharina Trott, City Power’s general manager for risk and control.
Hloni Motloung, media relations consultant at City Power, said there had been a trend in cable theft, whereby thieves would target one area and thereafter move to another.
As a result, the utility has embarked on educational campaigns to inform the public of the causes of affected services in their areas.
The campaigns also served to educate the public about the dangers and impacts of cable theft and to equip them with information to identify legitimate City Power workers, Motloung said.
According to Motloung, people who worked for the City Power network would wear branded protective gear while on site and travel in vehicles that have the utility’s logo.
The utility was also installing pole to ground sleeves and aerial conductor cables across the city to prevent cable theft.
City Power decided to install aerial conductor cables made of aluminium, which is believed to have no value for thieves, rather than copper to curb cable theft.
Residents are urged to report suspicious activity to City Power’s control room on 011 490 7911
011 490 7911/ 7900/ 7553 or 080 000 3251080 000 3251.
