Pretoria - Services at the City of Tshwane’s Akasia Licensing Department were suspended yesterday after cable theft plunged the entire Winternest area into darkness.
City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said they were unable to offer services to residents in the area following the cable thefts in the early hours of Sunday.
Bokaba said owing to the fact that they were unable to establish the extent of the damage or how long it would take to fix, they would be redirecting customers to make use of alternative centres to have their licensing needs addressed.
He said motorists could use the Waltloo, Bronkhorstpruit and Centurion licensing centres as well as facility on Thabo Sehume Street in the CBD.
“We would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused,” said Bokaba.
The City in June launched a by-law enforcement centre to integrate efforts to fight cable theft, illegal electricity connections and land invasions.
At the time, the City said cable theft and illegal electricity connections were on the rise despite there being a dedicated unit to deal with the problem within the Tshwane Metro Police Department.
It was envisaged that the centre would assist the City with co-ordinating interventions to curb the spate of contraventions and criminality that had taken root across the City.
Former mayor Solly Msimanga, during his tenure, once said the metro was losing R200 million each year to cable theft.
Metro Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said there was a separate team within the department dealing with cable theft. He said its efforts included patrolling known hot-spot areas day and night.
Mahamba said the team, which had already managed to make significant strides and numerous arrests, would be continuing in its efforts to address cable theft and illegal connections.
He also urged members of the public to assist the City by reporting by-law infringements and criminal acts to the centre on 012 358 7095.
Pretoria News