Durban - Rampant theft of Emadlangeni Municipality’s copper cables in northern KwaZulu-Natal has left the town running on a temporary power supply.
In a notice to residents on Saturday, Emadlangeni Municipality (Utrecht) reported that on June 16, the copper cable in Voor Street was stolen while technicians were working on the fault.
“The incident took place between 20:00 and 01:30,” said the municipality.
The municipality said another incident of cable theft was reported on June 22.
“Cable theft was reported in the vicinity of Plein Street, the incident is reported to have occurred while there was load shedding,” it said.
The municipality said the cables supplying the Central Business Unit were also stolen.
“The theft of the cables in the town has worsened in the past few months, this has been detrimental to service delivery in the town,” said the municipality.
The municipality urged the public to come forward with any information that may lead to the prosecution of these perpetrators.
“The SAPS will ensure that the identity of the whistle-blower is protected at all times,” said the municipality.
Earlier this month, The Mercury reported that Multi-disciplinary Economic Infrastructure Task Teams (EITTs) were launched by the deputy provincial police commissioner, Major-General Phumelele Makoba.
Some of the crimes that will be investigated are copper cable theft, damage to essential infrastructure and extortion on construction sites, among others.
Three teams were formed, to be based in the eThekwini, Umgungundlovu and King Cetshwayo Districts, that will be dealing with economic infrastructure crimes.
The teams consist of members from various disciplines in the SAPS, government departments, other law enforcement agencies, state-owned entities, cellular telephone providers and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.