City Power clamps down on cable theft

JOHANNESBURG – The Intelligence Division of power utility City Power, in partnership with members of the South African Police Services (SAPS), arrested 14 people over the weekend of October 19 for cable theft and for being in possession of illicit possessions.

The suspects were arrested in two separate incidents over the weekend. The arrests are part of City Power’s ongoing investigation to clamp down on cable theft, which costs the economy more than R5 billion annually.

Following a tip, City Power’s intelligence unit and members of the SAPS raided a scrap yard in Roodeport west of Johannesburg, and found 395 kilograms of unaccounted for cable. The cables had the distinct markings of City Power. The scrap yard owner offered members of City Power intelligence and the SAPS a R30 000 bribe, which was declined. He was arrested together with four accomplices, and they appeared in court on Monday October 20, on charges of theft, possession of stolen property and bribery.

In another operation, while conducting a route patrol on the cable theft hotspots, members of City Power’s intelligence unit and the SAPS arrested nine suspects in Meadowlands, Soweto, while they were trenching for underground cables and stripping electricity cables for copper.

Approximately 60 kilograms of unstripped cables and 16 kilograms of unstrapped cables were recovered. The response team and the police also confiscated picks, shovels, hack saws and bolt cutters.

City Power has prioritised the fight against cable theft. Through organisations such as the Association of the Municipal Electricity Undertakings of Southern Africa (AMEU), City Power together with organised business, municipalities and law enforcement agencies have agreed to lobby government to classify cable theft as an act of treason owing to its debilitating effects. This is one of the resolutions from panel discussion at the recently held 64th Convention titled: Should cable theft be classified as economic sabotage?

The water cuts that affected communities in Pretoria and Johannesburg due to cable theft is a grim and chilling reminder of how the scourge of cable theft can impact negatively on communities and businesses if it remains unchecked.