Mthatha cable theft costs ratepayers millions

Concerned King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) mayor Nyaniso Nelani has urged residents of Mthatha to join hands with the municipality in fighting cable thieves.

The appeal comes after one of the city’s biggest power substations was vandalised and electricity cables worth more than R2m stolen last week.

Municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza told the Daily Dispatch that the theft was discovered during the early hours of Friday morning.

He said the substation had been vandalised. This left several areas including the CBD, townships and suburbs without power since Friday.

On Wednesday a portion of the inner city had no electricity. This in turn affected the functioning of the city’s robots and led to traffic congestion.

Nelani said he was “saddened at the turn of events” and begged residents to assist the city in dealing with the scourge of cable theft.

“We urge people to come forward and report this to authorities,” he said.

“Their names will be kept anonymous and the information they provide will be treated as confidential.

“What is worrying is that it’s rate- and taxpayers’ money that has to be spent on fixing the damage.”

Nelani has now instructed municipal technicians to craft a contingency plan to minimise power outages and ensure that consumers are not left without electricity for a long time.

The Sidwadwa substation near the Mthatha Plaza mall was refurbished in 2017 at a cost of R33m. This was after the municipality received R100m from the Eastern Cape government to fix its erratic power supply network.

Mampoza revealed that, apart from the centre of Mthatha, areas including Ngangelizwe, Ikwezi, Mbuqe Extension, Mbuqe Park, Mdlekeza, Waterfall, Hillcrest, Norwood and Northcrest had been affected by power outages due to the power cable theft from the Sidwadwa substation on Friday.

KSD has previously revealed that it was forced to cough up more than R6m to replace stolen electricity cables between 2014 and 2016.

Last year the local authority was left with a R1.3m bill after thieves made off with power cables on two occasions.

This week Mampoza acknowledged that the situation was draining the municipality’s financial resources.

“It shows there is a need for us to deploy security on a 24-hour basis to protect our substations,” he added.

Mthatha Ratepayers and Residents Association spokesperson Madyibi Ngxekana said he was convinced the people who were behind cable theft knew “how to handle electricity”.

“It’s only someone with a background in electricity who knows how to handle a cable or where to cut it.

“We are not saying it’s an inside job, but it’s definitely someone who knows about how electricity works who is behind this.”

Eastern Cape business chamber president Vuyisile Ntlabati meanwhile said the power outages would have a negative impact on small businesses in particular, like salons and dry cleaners.

“Salon people cannot take clients if there is no electricity.

“It means they have to wait until the power is back.

“The whole situation is killing businesses,” he said.

We are not saying it’s an inside job, but it’s definitely someone who knows about how electricity works who is behind this