Rampant cable theft in the township of Kwalanga, in Kariega, has forced residents to patrol during load shedding hours.
Residents say they started noticing that electricity would be gone for longer than the load shedding periods. At first, they thought the problem was with the municipality. It was only when they complained to the municipality’s electricity directorate that they were made aware of the situation.
Community member Tim Boyce says that is when they decided that their best bet would be to patrol during load shedding slots, especially at night because that is when the criminals strike.
“We decided to start this patrol initiative because we’re tired of not having electricity for long periods on end. We thought the problem was with the municipality, but we’ve realised that the problem is in our communities,” said Boyce.
“Cable thieves live among us, therefore we’ve got to take responsibility as the community and patrol so that they do not get a chance,” he added
Another resident who asked not to be named became a victim of cable theft at the weekend. The resident says the cable thieves are known to the community.
“We know these boys [cable thieves]. Everyone knows them, but nobody is doing anything about it. We know their families, they enjoy spending money without asking where they got the money,” said the resident.
The resident says in addition to the cable theft facing communities, parents also encourage the behaviour by accepting money from stolen goods.
“We’re tired. We’re going to take back our community — even if it means we have to break the law,” he added.
Lance Grootboom of Electricity & Energy says the municipality has started replacing copper cables with aluminium cables.
“For now, every time a case of cable theft is reported, we replace the cables with aluminium ones,” said Grootboom.
Grootboom says the process of replacing cables is going to take some time before all communities are serviced.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber of Business (NMBCB) has called on the government to declare a State of Disaster with respect to the vandalism of infrastructure.
CEO Denise van Huyssteen said this should lead the government’s response to cable and infrastructure theft that is occurring at an industrial scale and crippling the South African economy.
The NMBCB wrote to Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to take this drastic step in order to protect public assets that are essential to service delivery and support investment and job creation.
Pictured above: Vandalised copper cables
Image source: Supplied
