In the six months between October 2018 and March 2019, there were approximately 70 instances of electricity vandalism and theft in the metro. It has cost the City of Cape Town millions of rand to repair and replace the damaged infrastructure. The City’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department continues to face an uphill battle against this scourge in City-supplied areas across the metro. Electricity vandalism and theft cost the City greatly and it calls on all residents for their assistance.

Sadly, vandalism and theft of critical electricity infrastructure is a challenge across the city and it more often than not affects the most vulnerable residents of Cape Town. For example, in Area East, which includes Goodwood, Parow, Gordon’s Bay and surrounds, there was an estimated R1,2 million in vandalism and theft. In Area South, which includes Philippi, Mitchells Plain, Muizenberg and surrounds, there was an estimated R3,2 million in vandalism and theft.

‘Vandalism not only impacts negatively on residents’ lives but also on the public purse. Money that can be spent on other projects to improve the lives of residents has to be redirected to fix what is being destroyed. Vandals do not realise that a component for which they may receive R100 at a scrap dealer can cause damages of hundreds of thousands of rand. The scourge of vandalism impacts on the lives of residents and the only way to stamp this out is for residents to work with the City to bring the criminals to book.

‘I am calling on residents to be the anti-vandalism and theft ambassadors for the City in their neighbourhoods and to report the perpetrators. In most cases, the perpetrators are known to residents as they are from the same neighbourhoods. Without input from residents, the City will never win the war against these crimes. To encourage this, the City offers a reward of R5 000 to anyone who provides information that leads to arrest, confiscation of stolen or illegal goods or the handing-in of illegal or stolen goods. This reward is also applicable to information leading to the arrest of people vandalising, damaging or stealing electricity infrastructure or installing illegal connections.

‘We also continue to roll out new technology and to think outside of the box to reduce the attractiveness and impact of vandalism. This illegal activity has many repercussions for the City as a whole as we have to account for the cost of repairs following vandalism of the infrastructure and the associated overtime to effect repairs, not to mention the actual human resources required. This all adds to the cost of supplying electricity. In addition, it’s a waste of City resources and takes away from other service delivery responsibilities.

‘Electricity vandalism leaves our communities in darkness and places our residents at risk of electric shock and allows criminals to operate more easily. Vandalism can cause a lasting effect on communities and can be considered an act against community members. Communities are affected by long outages, and indirectly, through increased service costs. We are appealing to all members of the public to assist us by reporting any suspicious activities near electricity infrastructure or providing any leads on electricity tampering.

‘Every bit of help to curb this extreme waste of City resources will make a difference,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.

The City also places a large focus on preventing theft as income that is lost from stolen electricity impacts on the sustainability of the service for all residents. In addition, it is a dangerous action that can lead to the death of the perpetrator.

Earlier this week, the City held an operation to disconnect and remove illegal connections in and around Siqalo informal settlement in the Mitchells Plain area. The operation was conducted by the City’s Law Enforcement and Electricity Generation and Distribution staff in collaboration with South Africa Police Service (SAPS). A total of 78kg aluminium cable and 88kg of copper was recovered. This is an ongoing operation and those arrested are likely to be charged in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015.

According to the Act, the minimum sentence for vandalism or theft of infrastructure is three years imprisonment and the maximum 30 years.

More than R100 million is recovered each year by the City’s Revenue Protection team. Heading the efforts of this team is Greg Stopford who last year was appointed as President of the Southern Africa Revenue Protection Association (SARPA).

‘The role of President of SARPA can benefit the City by adopting best practices from international and national sources while at the same time sharing the City’s proven successes with other SARPA members and influencing legislation with a view to eventually putting a stop to electricity theft and to reduce electricity losses. The City’s expertise in the field of revenue protection has been recognised and resulted in a number of visits by national and international visitors who have sought advice from the City and opportunities to visit and learn from our operations,’ said Stopford, who has more than 30 years’ service with the City.

Source: City Of Cape Town