Criminals exploit load shedding

CRIMINALS have taken it upon themselves to reduce the valuables in your homes, especially during the interruption of an electricity supply.

Schemes by criminals were exposed at the Domestic Watch meeting at Sasol Garage, Suideroord on March 10.

The theme was how domestic workers, gardeners and home owners could prevent falling victim to false load shedding by criminals.

Power interruptions aren’t always by Eskom, but rather by criminals, who switch off the power supply to a residence to either derail the electric gate, steal cables at substations or pretend to be City Power officials.

SOS’s Martin Barber said: “Tsotsi’s know when its load shedding, because it’s important for them.” It is during those intervals that criminals strike.

“During load shedding, tsotsi’s come to your house and hoot and say: ‘It’s load shedding, we’re here to check your box.’ That’s when most domestics open for them,” explained Barber.

“We need to know when load shedding is, because then you know there isn’t somebody playing with the box outside.”

Domestics and their employers should test the alarm system every two weeks, ensuring signals are received in the control centre, but alert the security company beforehand.

Arming a domestic with a panic button is essential to their and your family’s safety.

Emphasising the importance of lighting in and around the house at appropriate hours, Barber said: “This is how criminals think: If there’s no electricity then there’s no one there.”

Domestics were urged when their employers aren’t home to make sure the lights are on inside and outside of the home.

“Make sure your employer has good lighting outside.” He encouraged installation of security beams to detect the movement of criminals.