More than six cases were recorded, this week. In total, an estimated 2.7 kilometres of cables were stolen.
Since the beginning of 2024, about 102 people arrested for cable theft, and 14, including a minor, were convicted with sentences of between 3 to 15 years in prison.
Last year (2023), City Power secured 132 convictions for cable theft, vandalism and illegal connections, apprehending five to eight suspects every week.
City Power said these alarming incidents have affected key distributors in Selby Central and Wemmer West from the Central Substation.
City Power’s Isaac Mangena, said in the past week alone, the Inner-City Service Delivery Centre (SDC) team has beenworking to address the latest series of power outages, which are linked to cable theft and infrastructure vandalism.
“This theft has led to extensive power outages impacting both the Inner-Cityand Reuven supply areas. In addition to this, City Power is in the process of replacing 4,300 meters of cable, which were stolen from the Bree and Cleveland substations. These ongoing acts of cable
theft and vandalism are not only costing City Power millions of rands in financial losses but are also delaying the restoration of power to affected areas, causing prolonged outages for many customers” said Mangena.
He also said the situation has been further complicated by safety concerns related to accessing underground tunnels necessary for conducting repairs.
This follows a tragic incident which occurred several weeks ago, which has temporarily restricted access to underground tunnels.
Repairs are now done in partnership with Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS), South African Police Service (SAPS), and City Power’s SHEQ
department.
Emergency numbers to report incidents or suspicious begabiour: 011 490 7900/7911 or send a WhatsApp message to 083 579 4497.