Eskom urges the residents of Fisantekraal and Klipheuwel to come forward with information about cable theft in an attempt to put the perpetrators behind bars.
The City of Cape Town also announced that about R40 million is earmarked in the City’s 2023-’24 budget to help fight the vandalising of energy infrastructure across the metro.
“The relentless theft and vandalising of infrastructure in these areas and surrounding neighbourhoods have led to numerous unplanned power cuts, leaving customers without electricity supply for prolonged periods,” Eskom says in a media release by its stakeholder management and industry support department for the Cape Coastal Cluster distribution area.
“As a result of this scourge of theft and vandalism, Eskom technicians are inundated with faults which severely affect electricity restoration times for affected customers,” a spokesperson for Eskom says.
This came after TygerBurger reported last week about the problem cable theft causes residents (“Kabeldiewe verlam Fisantekraal”, 19 April).
According to Timothy Wildschut, a resident of Greenville and activist for service delivery in Fisantekraal, cable theft escalated in the past two months, especially during load shedding.
Wildschut said to TygerBurger households are without electricity for days, because infrastructure was damaged during the cable theft incident. A week ago about 30 houses were without electricity for more than eight hours – after other incidents it took days before the infrastructure was repaired.
Some residents had to wait for weeks after vandalism to infrastructure and Eskom had to wait for parts.
Fixing the problem
“Eskom is aware of the concerns of the Fisantekraal and Klipheuwel community regarding the constant electricity supply issues experienced in the area over the past few months,” according to the media release.
“Eskom technicians continue to work tirelessly to reduce the work load backlog caused by theft and vandalism.
“This is a problem that persists, and Eskom has been engaging law enforcement and lobbied the support of community leadership to find solutions to protect the Eskom network.
“Unfortunately, this also comes at a time where Eskom has implemented load shedding that is scheduled to continue until further notice, which further impacts the duration of no electricity supply for these customers,” the spokesperson says.
“Eskom understands the frustrations of communities affected by the continued theft and vandalising and urges the public to come forward with information that can put these perpetrators behind bars. In order to ensure a reliable electricity supply to paying customers and keep communities safe, Eskom desperately requires the support of communities and urges the members of the public to report any suspicious activity relating to illegal connections, cable theft and vandalism,” he says.
Beverley van Reenen, the City’s Mayco member for energy, says in a media release the R40 million allocation in the budget is to support law enforcement deployment, enhance security at key points and increase monitoring.
“This does not include the millions of rand required to fix vandalised infrastructure,” she says.
“Vandalising of City infrastructure is one of the most profound challenges we are faced with in Cape Town. Together with illegal connections, it leaves communities without power and the situation is being made worse by Eskom’s intense load shedding.
“Incidents of vandalism and illegal connection definitely increase during periods of loadshedding at high stages and with the winter months ahead, and demand typically increasing, the Eskom supply problems and thus periods of time without power is expected to increase,” Van Reenen says.
“We call on our communities to be our eyes and ears on the ground and report any suspicious activity so that our safety and energy teams can act fast and decisively to fight the scourge,” she says.
Anonymous tip-offs are welcome. Rewards of up to R5 000 are paid for tip offs that lead to arrests, she says.
- Report damage to municipal electrical infrastructure by SMS to 31220 or power@capetown.gov.za or 0800 1100 77.
Call the Eskom crime line number at 0800 11 27 22 or contact the local police to report crime.
