City Power Urges Community Vigilance to Tackle Cable Theft and Vandalism

City Power has urged communities to be vigilant considering the surge in cable theft and vandalism in areas such as Randburg, Roodepoort, the Inner City, and Lenasia. Recent cable theft incidents led to outages in Randburg and Pimville Zone 9, where authorities found two unidentified bodies. They discovered one of the bodies in a trench in Soweto, suspected of an electrocuted thief attempting to cut a live cable.

According to The City of Johannesburg, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the distressing discovery of dead bodies near City Power infrastructure affects the mental health of the entity’s workforce, already under pressure due to high electricity demand and frequent trips caused by overload and illegal connections.

Mangena adds that the impact of such crimes goes beyond power outages, with disruptions to essential services like water and healthcare, economic activity, traffic lights, and small businesses. The spike in vandalism strains the system and contributes to frequent trips after load shedding.

“While City Power regrets the loss of life, we would also like to bring to attention the dangers of tampering with our infrastructure,” he highlights.

City Power recorded 114 theft and vandalism incidents in July alone, with 15 arrests. In the previous fiscal year, 2,347 incidents resulted in 278 arrests. He suspects a potential cable theft syndicate employing sophisticated tools to target high-value cables and network infrastructure.

Also read: Three City Power Substations Impacted After Explosion in Johannesburg CBD

Mangena calls on residential customers to remain vigilant, report suspicious activities around electrical infrastructure, and collaborate to combat the escalating problem.

“The City Power network is battling to keep up with the winter demand, coupled with frequent incidents of cable theft, illegal connections, and overall infrastructure damage. The entity constantly spends millions of rand each year to replace stolen or damaged cables. This money could be used for other essential services, such as maintenance work and repairs,” he laments.

Mangena urges residential customers to be vigilant, reporting any suspicious activity around electrical infrastructure to the City Power hotline or the police.

“By collaborating with communities, law enforcement agencies, and City Power’s Security Risk Management Team, the entity aims to combat these crimes and ensure safer communities.”

Call the City Power hotline at 0800 116 166 for any suspicious activity, send a WhatsApp message to 083 579 4497, or contact the police at 10111. By working together, City Power aims to ensure safer communities and protect essential infrastructure from further damage.

Also read:

City Power: Replace Stolen Electricity Cable at Your Expense

Picture: Twitter / CityPowerJhb

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