The City of Joburg has issued an impassioned plea to the residents to help it combat cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure and products saying it is under siege from the criminals.
In a statement from the City’s MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Service Department, Michael Sun, the City highlighted the high rate of cable theft during the festive season saying that it continues to battle rampant theft and vandalism especially in Roodepoort where there were 17 instances of cable theft in the last week alone.
Sun said in December 2022 alone, over 200 Jojo tanks provided by the City were either vandalised or stolen.
“This situation breaks my heart. Cable theft and infrastructure vandalism are killing service delivery across the county. We need communities to work with us this year to ensure we put an immediate stop to this plaque,” said Sun.
“Last year, EISD launched an infrastructure protection initiative to work alongside neighbourhood watches and other groups taking it upon
themselves to help safeguard Cty Powers electrical grid. While this initiative has borne fruit, cable theft remains rampant.
“Although our effort with City Power has helped to put 147 cable thieves behind bars in ust the last six months of 2022 — almost double the amount compared to the previous twelve-month period, cable theft is still far too high with instances occurring on a daily basis.
“This year, we are going to redouble our efforts and ensure City Power works in tandem with the law enforcement agencies and shoulder-to-shoulder with communities to extinguish this horrendous crime against lives, livelihoods and our national stability.”
Cty Power is currently tasked with creating an emergency plan to deal with cable theft immediately, which will include adding to its already over R100 million security budget, among others, said Sun.
Joburg Water is also recrafting its approach to the deployment of water tankers. The entity deploys or installs Jojo tanks in communities as a last resort or alternative solution when conventional tap water cannot be supplied, However, this cannot be reliably continued at the rate these units are disappearing in communities, he said.
“It’s very seldom that information about incidents of cable thieves and vandals or Jojo tanks disappearing or being damaged are being shared by the communities in which they occur,” said Sun
“This is why I’m appealing to every single Joburger to not sit back and watch our valuable infrastructure being stolen or vandalised only to enrich the criminals ting among us. If you see or hear something, report it. Information can be supplied anonymously too. Your City needs your help”, said Sun
To report cable theft to City Power, use any of these 24-hour hotlines: 011 490 7900; 011 490 7911 and 011 490 7553. Alternatively, WhatsApp 083-579-4497
To report vandalism or theft of Joburg Water infrastructure, use this anonymous line: +27800002587