Joseph Chirume
A video has surfaced online of a man uprooting a streetlight in Qheberha in the Eastern Cape.
The video, which was captured on Monday, shows the man digging out the streetlight from the ground with a crowbar in broad daylight.
While the criminal mastermind pulls off the heist, a co-conspirator appears to be waiting nearby on the lookout – though neither man notices that they are being filmed the whole time.
The pair are undeterred by passersby and the vehicles travelling by on the busy road.
Ward 31 councillor Teslin Booysen told Scrolla.Africa that he was in the process of reporting the crime to the police.
“I am still making my way to the police station, but we know who he is,” said Councillor Booysen.
Booysen said he learned the suspects’ identities after pleading with residents to assist in naming them.
He said the suspects sell cables to a scrap metal buyer in Windvogel.
“The guys in the video were the ones stealing cables from the traffic light intersections. They have been doing this for a long time.”
A resident who did not want to be identified said: “We must make a plan to ensure they are arrested. They do it in broad daylight. We must deal with them sooner rather than later.”
The theft of traffic and street lights in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has escalated in the past few years. Most traffic lights in major roads are not operating as a result of vandalism.
Last week a man was captured on video in Sandton dragging a traffic light with reports suggesting that he stole it after it was knocked down during a crash.
