Public asked to help catch cable thieves

Angry Mthatha city bosses on Friday issued a heartfelt plea to residents to help put a stop to cable theft.

This follows the theft of R300,000 worth of electricity cables on Thursday, plunging several residential areas into darkness.

“We urge people to phone us when they see this [cable theft],” King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza said.

“At the end of the day, it is our communities that bear the brunt of cable theft.

“Then they lash out and criticise the municipality when they don’t have power.”

The spokesperson said residents of New Brighton, Waterfall, Mdlekeza and some parts of Ikwezi township had been plunged into darkness as a result of the theft of cables on Thursday.

The cables were stolen on Thursday night at one of the city’s biggest power substations near the B T Ngebs City mall and Plaza mall.

“It’s hindering service delivery.

“These acts don’t only hit the municipality hard financially, they also inconvenience our consumers,” Mampoza said.

This is not the first time that cable thieves have struck a huge blow to KSD in recent years.

The Daily Dispatch reported in 2016 how the already financially troubled municipality had to spend R1.7m replacing a copper cable stolen at a substation behind the Walter Sisulu University’s Nelson Mandela Drive campus which left several areas in the dark.

During the same year, KSD had to spend an additional R220,000 fixing up after thieves made off with cables at the same substation.

Residents of affluent suburbs like Southridge Park, Sidwadwa View and Enkululekweni went more than a day without power.

Talking about Thursday’s incident, the spokesperson said the municipality had resolved to tighten security around substations.