Langa schools affected by cable theft, suspects caught by residents

FIVE suspected thieves who allegedly stole cables in Langa, causing power outages that affected two schools have been arrested.

Furious Zone 27 residents, who have been experiencing blackouts since last week, caught two of the men yesterday in possession of cables and handed them over to police.

It was later discovered that they managed to evade arrest at the weekend when a group of men were detained for copper theft.

Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said Langa officers were doing routine patrols in Zone 27 on Saturday when the station commander arrested three men for theft of copper cables.

The suspects will appear today at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court.

Langa Safety Patrol member Ntsikelelo Camagu said since last Thursday, City workers had to repeatedly return to Zone 22 and 27 for repairs.

“The workers came on Thursday for repairs after Ikamvalethu Secondary School and Zimasa Primary school reported the matter.

“On Friday it was the same problem again and the two schools had to close schooling early.” Residents caught two men. “We received a call to go to assist in handing over the suspects to police.”

Education spokesperson Millicent Merton confirmed that the two schools were affected by cable theft.

“The issue was resolved and electricity was restored by midday on Friday. Learning and teaching was fortunately not affected by the power outage.”