Cable theft impacts negatively on economy
Cable theft not only has an effect on the community due to unnecessary outages, but also to the economy as a whole.
This is according to Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality spokesperson, Sam Modiba.
This follows the numerous reports of cable theft at train stations and airports, coupled with the theft of electricity through illegal power connections, meter tampering and bypassing.
Modiba says cable and electricity theft has a ripple effect and contributes to power outages, also affecting the stability of power supply.
“In many instances, these outages cause inconveniences, delays and threaten lives in hospitals, and jobs in businesses,” says Modiba.
“Short lengths of cables get stolen and the delay to repair and the damage caused is much more than the piece of cable missing or the damage caused by theft of the cable,” he says.
“With illegal connections, wires run across floors, pathways or streets and are often not insulated.
“In many instances, cable theft kills and injures innocent children and toddlers every year.
“The dangers of cable theft include the exposed damaged cables, and in some cases when the neutral supply cable is affected by the theft, there are voltage fluctuations that affect the supply to our customers exceeding the normal operating voltages, destroying equipment and appliances,” he explains.
According to Operation Khanyisa, a national partnership campaign that promotes the legal, safe and efficient use of electricity in South Africa, electricity theft costs South Africa a massive R4.4-bn every year, with consumers having to suffer tariff increases to pay for the stolen electricity.
The EMPD’s Anti-Cable Theft unit monitors electricity networks on a 24-hour, seven days a week basis.
“Coucil has appointed external service providers to assist the unit and they have jointly arrested close to a 1 000 suspects over a six year period with an 85 per cent successful rate of prosecutions,” says Modiba.
Any suspicious activities within the boundaries of Ekurhuleni metro area can be reported to a 24-hour control room for immediate reaction on 086 011 1108.
