City Power sheds some light after shocking death

ROBERTSHAM – A cable thief in Harry Street, corner of Kindon Road, Robertsham was electrocuted on Wednesday morning February 26 around 04:00, when he tried to steal live overhead electrical cables.

He was stuck between the cables where he was burned. “The fire brigade team struggled to take him out of the cables as he was stuck there,” said one of the eyewitnesses.

Cable theft is rife in the South and thieves regularly steal cables and inconvenience residents.

Byron van Rensburg wrote on the COURIER Facebook page: “Cable thief hangs from lamppost in Harry Street trying to steal cables. Instant death.”

This individual was found dead at the top of a nine meter pole with a bolt cutter in his possession. Police are currently investigating the cause of death. City Power regrets his death, particularly as it was unnecessary.

City Power Technicians isolated the area for paramedics to remove the body. The electricity switch-off only affected customers in Harry Street and it was restored by 07:30 on that day.

City Power experiences about 3 000 cable theft incidents per annum.

“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 Sol Masolo, spokesperson for City Power.

Currently City Power is rolling out Aerial Bundle Conductor (ABC) cable across Johannesburg that has aluminum content and has no value to cable thieves. It is also laying concrete on surfaces where our cables are running in order to minimise cable theft incidents.

To report cable theft, members of the public are urged to please contact 011 490 7911/7553/7900, 24 hours a day.