Cable theft, vandalism of substations cost millions

Call for urgent steps, security to prevent further financial losses

THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is losing millions of rands at its power substations as vandals continue to cause damage and steal copper cables and electricity. Between September and November, the city lost more than R9-million due to vandalism and theft at substations.

A report tabled by the safety and security department this week revealed that substations had been vandalised, some burnt and others stripped of cables.

In October, eight substations were broken into and cables were stolen. Some were burnt to get the copper cables.

In one incident, a suspect who tried to steal cables was injured in a “minor explosion” inside an Algoa Park substation.

The suspect was traced by municipal officials to Dora Nginza hospital.

In November, the city lost R5.1-million when a suspect stole various lengths of copper cable.

The Walmer substation was vandalised twice between October and November.

The two incidents cost the city R8-million.

At a safety and security committee meeting on Tuesday, DA councillor Jason Grobbelaar said the department should improve the security of the substations and be proactive in dealing with theft.

“I want to draw the attention of this committee to the areas where vibration sensor alarms are activated,” he said.

“There are no financial losses at those substations.

“But in one substation where there is no alarm installed, vandalism and theft were picked up by electricians when they were doing routine checks and the damages were estimated at R3-million.”

He said it was alarming that in one month the city lost millions.

“At [one of the] substations, when officials were doing routine checks, they found damages, and we had R5-million in financial losses.

“What proactive steps are being taken to prevent this from happening?” Grobbelaar said.

Committee chairman John Best said they would have to set up a task team to look into beefing up security at the city’s substations.

“The task team will identify the vulnerable stations and look into where we can install alarms and remove the current static guards.

“I want to assure councillors it is being done and we will bring the report to the next meeting,” Best said.

DA councillor Gustav Rautenbach said: “The fact that there were 14 arrests made in partnership with the police means the department is doing something right. They cannot do it on their own”.

ANC councillor Gamalihleli Maqula said the municipality should look into dealing with illegal electricity theft as many of the incidents reported related to that.

“It was painful to [read in the newspapers] about a small child who was electrocuted. This municipality must get rid of illegal connections. Our people cannot live like this,” Maqula said.

Best said illegal electricity connections were receiving top priority at the infrastructure, engineering and electricity department.