Electrical substations at risk of vandalism

Metro’s electronic security system compromised after contract ended

MAJOR substations and other electrical infrastructure are at the mercy of criminals as the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality continues without an effective electronic security contract in place.

The metro’s electricity department has raised concerns about possible break-ins and vandalism, as well as the safety of its staff, due to constant disruptions in its CCTV network.

It has even proposed getting its own security system, dedicated to the department.

Since cutting ties with Afrisec, the company that used to run the metro’s CCTV system, the municipality has been battling to keep a handle on its network, which has been plagued by disruptions and shutdowns.

The metro did not have qualified staff to run the camera control room and adequately fix any glitches, it said in May.

The early warning systems linked to the CCTV system were not working either.

This meant there were no early signs should a break-in occur at a substation, acting electricity and energy executive director Peter Neilson said yesterday.

Neilson said the department was also concerned that the security system in place was not maintained and was “seriously jeopardised”.

“As there is no Afrisec contract or equivalent in place, this has resulted in no communication to any of our major substations, and this has resulted in no early warning systems being in place.

“Most of our major substations had cameras and access control installed at a great expense – but with no communication to [the] site, it increases the risk daily of this equipment being vandalised or stolen,” Neilson said.

Not having a contract in place meant any major faults to the security master plan at the South End Fire Station would bring the entire security monitoring system to a halt, he said.

All departments report occurrences to the South End Fire Station site.

“[We have] cameras and certain modules that stream information back to the control room. If you have nothing monitoring cameras and modules, then we have no control over the theft of equipment and substations.

“We need to make a decision soon as to what the institution needs to do to continue maintaining infrastructure that was procured with the Afrisec contract.”

Disaster management director Shane Brown said the municipality had turned to using manual checks and increased security to try to deal with the issue in the interim.

“We are doing everything possible to negate risks as much as possible. Where we don’t have something working, we put something or someone else in its place,” he said.

“Where access control systems are not working, all that is done is to use a manual system. We have gone back to locking our doors.”

Brown said the municipality relied entirely on its 455 Metro Security guards for safety.

The company that used to run the CCTV system on behalf of the municipality, Afrisec Strategic Solutions, is embroiled in a legal dispute with the municipality over R92.4-million the city believes the company should not have been paid.

We need to make a decision soon as to what [we need] to do