Cable thieves leave families in dark

A new cable theft trend in Mdantsane has left at least four families without electricity after thieves stole connection lines in different parts of the township.

The cases were reported to ANC ward 21 councillor Mpumelelo Fini this week by upset residents who said they did not have the thousands of rands demanded by Buffalo City Metro to reconnect them to the power grid.

The Dispatch visited two of the affected families in NU13 and NU15 on Wednesday. They said the cables had been stolen on Wednesday last week.

Mlondolozi Ntonga, 42, from NU13 said: “I was sleeping [at about 1am] when I heard a loud bang and woke up.

“I went to investigate but the lights would not turn on. So I went outside where I saw two men with a ladder.

“When I asked them what they were doing, they threatened to shoot me and so I ran inside the house.

“This has never happened before and I’ve been living in this house for more than 10 years,” he said. He reported the case to the Inyibiba police station, but alleged he was denied the right to open a case and told to make an affidavit instead.

But police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi denied the claim.

“Information received is that the complainant informed the officers on duty at Inyibiba police station that he had been sent by his mother to obtain an affidavit in relation to the stolen cable at his home, to send to the municipality.

“He was advised that he could open a case but he told them [police] that an affidavit is what his mother needed,” said Mbi, adding that no other cases of cable theft had been reported to the Inyibiba police station since the beginning of April.

A distraught Ntonga said he was initially charged R1,400 for electricity by BCM.

However, when a team was sent to his home on Tuesday, they told him he needed to pay R2,500 to get reconnected. “I don’t have money.

“I’m unemployed, I don’t even get grant money,” he said.

Another unemployed resident from NU15, Mbulelo Baleni, 58 , said: “I think the cable was stolen around 10pm when I was watching soccer at my neighbour’s house.

“I came back home around 12am and there was no electricity.

“I reported this to the councillor and was told I needed R1,800 to reconnect.

“I don’t have that money,” he said, adding that scrap yards should not buy cables.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said while the metro felt sorry for residents, it could not be accountable for theft occurring on private property.

He said home owners would have to pay a registered electrician to replace the cables.

I asked them what they were doing and they threatened to shoot me