Cable theft spikes as road project lies dormant
Cable thieves have swooped in as the Beacon Bay-Gonubie link road project lies dormant.
Buffalo City Metro (BCM) DA ward councillor Marion Mackley said the thefts, which had escalated over the past two weeks, had been reported to the municipality.
“It started with small digging around the poles — it seems the thieves know exactly where the cables are,” she said.
“The road is isolated and an easy target. It cost millions to build that strip of road.
“The municipality’s assets are being stripped and it has to protect its assets. There are no consequences when people commit crime and it’s a big problem.
“Theft has become a thriving business. It’s demoralising.”
Mackley said she had sent emails reporting the situation to BCM, but had yet to receive a reply.
Photographs show paving blocks have been removed. The digging exposes underground pipes.
Beacon Bay Residents and Ratepayers Association chair Malcolm Symons said he was unaware of the theft and referred queries to Mackley.
The vandalised area occurs in the second construction phase of the project a 680m dual carriageway with a full traffic circle, a culvert over the Quenera River, and a 1.4m wide median pedestrian walkway and bicycle track on both sides of the road.
At the state of the metro address in July, BCM mayor Xola Pakati said R395m had been set aside for road construction and R68m to upgrade taxi and bus ranks in the metro.
Catalyst projects such as upgrading the Qumza Highway in Mdantsane and the Beacon Bay-Gonubie road project are under way.
The road link project has not been without stumbling blocks. In 2019, BCM negotiated to buy a portion of farmland in Beacon Bay for R2.3m to make access a reality.
The landowner initially declined the metro’s offer.
The tender for the megaproject was awarded to Down Touch Investments in April 2019, with the contract expected to run for 18 months.
March 19 2020 was the expected completion date at the time.
There is now no construction whatsoever happening at the access road.
Questions sent to BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya had not been responded to by print deadline on Monday.