Cape Town - The continued vandalism of electricity infrastructure could leave thousands of households in vulnerable communities in dire straits this winter. This as the City struggles to contain damage of its electricity infrastructure.
Thousands of households in Manenberg, Heideveld and parts of Athlone were left without power on Monday after severe vandalism of three primary 11kV line feeders.
Four City contractors, a City staff member and a resident were injured as a result of a power surge caused by the vandalism.
The City said it would cost about R160 000 to repair the three cables.
In February alone, the City recorded 38 incidents of vandalism and theft with a cost estimate of R1 million.
In the same period, incidents of electricity vandalism and illegal connections were reported in areas such as Hanover Park, Heideveld, Athlone and Manenberg as well as in Atlantis, including the central city areas of Woodstock and along Philip Kgosana Drive. Manenberg has been flagged as a hot spot.
During the electrification of Masiphumelele shacks last week, Mayco member for energy Beverly van Reenen said vandalism and theft were the biggest bottlenecks to the City’s ability to provide electricity to residents.
She said illegal connections were also a challenge and often caused fires and death through electrocution.
The City said it was continuing to deploy proactive measures to help curb the scourge of vandalism.
“We ask our communities to help us protect community infrastructure. We appeal to residents to assist us by reporting any suspicious activities near electricity infrastructure to both the SAPS and the City so we can bring an end to infrastructure theft and vandalism,” it said.
The City said security was deployed to monitor hot spots where possible, but it relied on communities for alerts and to help protect community infrastructure.
Eskom said it also experienced a growing number of incidents and equipment failures in its supply areas in the metro and surrounding areas owing to illegal connections, cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure.
It said these activities had resulted in prolonged power outages, which left paying customers frustrated. It also had a severe financial impact.
Eskom said for the 2021/22 financial year, from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the cost incurred due to theft and vandalism in the province amounted to about R108m.
It said cable theft, vandalism and illegal connections were a serious problem in the areas, including but not limited to Atlantis, Blackheath, Bloekombos, Blue Downs, Crossroads, Delft, Dunoon, Eerste River, Khayelitsha, Klipheuwel, Kraaifontein, Nomzamo, Philippi, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Sunbird Park, Wallacedene and Wesbank.
Bonteheuwel ward councillor Angus McKenzie said the concern was that after credible information on cable thieves was passed to the police anonymously, the suspects weren’t charged when they were arrested.
“These criminals are not charged under the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, which is a new act brought into place for crimes such as these which have no bail option and have a prescribed minimum sentence immediately, which is more of a deterrent.
“But effectively these people are being charged with having stolen property on them, theft, or just vandalism. And so within 24 hours they are released again.
“They pay an admission of guilt fine, and they are left to their own devices again,” he said.
Manenberg community activist Roegschanda Pascoe said: “It's no surprise that the area is a hot spot because it’s ridden with the crime caused by high drug addiction and, with that, the City does not secure any of its infrastructures.
“With the increasing unemployment we not only have scrapyards but illegal car-fixing garage outlets from homes and pavements which on numerous occasions we have asked law enforcement agencies to close down.”
Gugulethu Development Forum chairperson Vincent Domingo said: “We for some time engaged the City on the dire need of CCTV cameras on each street, as these would help in identifying these perpetrators.
“Patrols alone by neighbourhood watches that are under-resourced are not sufficient as these criminals operate as late as 1am. Until the City steps up and listens to the community, unfortunately, we will see more of these incidents”.