Costly cable crime
City loses millions to street light copper wire thieves
THEFT of electricity cables is costing the City of uMhlathuze millions, and at the same time endangering residents.
As if load-shedding wasn’t causing enough frustration and anger, cable thieves are now brazenly targeting residential areas, removing the cables between streetlight poles.
The ZO did a walkabout with concerned Birdswood resident Mario van Wyk, who showed how the thieving gangs systematically plan and execute their crimes.
In a number of streets, the modus operandi was the same, and it appears they know exactly where the underground cables run.
“Firstly, probably at night, they dig through the pavement grass which barely covers the soft sand below.
“In the daytime, such cut lines can be seen on close examination – an indication that the particular section has been identified and prepared,” said Van Wyk.
“They return a night or two later, this time digging deeper to expose the cable between two light poles.
“The cable ends are disconnected at the poles and the cable is then dragged free, often attached to a rope pulled by a vehicle.
“Generally, this occurs on streets that adjoin green belt or bush areas.”
Amazingly, in built-up areas the activity seems to go unseen and unheard, despite most homes having dogs.
Another factor is that residents often think, at least in the daytime, that these are municipal workers as they often dress in overalls.
The thieves are careful not to attempt to steal cables that pass under driveways as this would be too obvious.
All the way towards the airport, residents have seen their street lighting progressively black out.
Costly to replace
The city is well aware of the matter, which has also hit the suburbs of Meerensee and
Veldenvlei, and is addressing the problem.
Last week, Deputy Mayor Christo
Botha and the city electrical department met with various stakeholders including security companies, the SAPS, and CPF and CPI neighbourhood protection groups.
“Approximately 4km of street light cable was stolen in July and August this year, with a value of around R1.5-million, but we are awaiting the latest stats, which could well increase the numbers,” said Botha.
“A modus operandi to come up with solutions to assist in fighting this particular crime was determined.”
And it is not only the value of the stolen cable that is costly; to this must be added the purchase price of new cable plus the labour required to reconnect the lights.