Following the latest in an alleged series of cable theft incidents, irate community members of Rusthof in Strand decided to take the law into their own hands by confronting a suspected cable thief.
It is believed that the apparent vigilante action occurred after cables were looted outside a residence in Tenth Street on Thursday 5 September.
According to a trusted source, the incident apparently happened in the early hours of the morning, around 04:20, leaving two homes without electricity for days on end.
Warrant Officer Nico Beukes, spokesperson for Strand police, confirmed the incident, saying a case of theft is being investigated after copper cables worth an estimated R1 000 were stolen.
Following the incident, disgruntled community members took to the streets in protest action, marching up to the suspected cable thief’s home around 14:00 on Thursday. Some of the protesters entered the property, extracting the alleged criminal from his residence.
DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette was called to the scene, where the suspected perpetrator was subjected to physical assault by community members. The suspect managed to escape with no serious injury.
One resident claimed that the community’s outburst is a result of them struggling to get justice from the authorities after they were unable to open a case with Strand police. They were told that the cables are the property of the City of Cape Town and thus the municipality would have to open the case.
A resident who was affected by the cable theft said that the City will only replace the cables on the electrical infrastructure, but they have to personally reconnect their home cables and reinstall their electricity. To do so, they will have to incur hefty costs when they appoint private contractors.
Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee member for Energy, confirmed the cable theft in Tenth Street, and related that this was not an isolated incident, but that vandalism and theft damage is an ongoing concern.
She said that in an effort to clamp down on cable theft, the City has handed over the case to the Metal Theft Unit to investigate and also opened a case with the Strand police.
She added that the City has vowed to fix outages caused by theft, vandalism and illegal connections impacting supply on its land and infrastructure.
“Regrettably, the law prohibits the City from spending public money to fix private matters on private property. The City is only able to restore supply up to the municipal boundary,” said Limberg, in response to residents’ claims that they will have to pay for their own reinstallation of electricity to their homes.
“We urge residents to phone the authorities and not take the law into their own hands for their own protection,” urged Limberg.
Beukes said no cases have been opened in relation to the assault by the community. “The sector commander and Crime Prevention Unit has been tasked to observe the area for any further threats,” he added.
The City has reiterated that it has various cable theft prevention interventions across the metropole, such as the deployment of the Energy Safety Teams, additional security and more boots on the ground.
However, cable theft is a crisis-level situation in many parts of the metro. As such they have established an anonymous tip-off campaign, “Let’s ACT: Protect Your Power” to help tackle the incidents of cable theft to protect power supply.
- Report any suspicious behaviour on 021 480 7700.
