Johannesburg’s City Power says it loses roughly R 2 billion per annum due to cable theft.
Recently 50 street lights were vandalised and their cables stolen in Cleveland north of Johannesburg.
Many more streets lights were destroyed and cables removed along Main Reef road and Elias Motsoaledi road near Braamfischerville in Soweto and also traffic lights have also been targeted.
City Power says it has resolved never to replace the streets lights where they are continuously vandalised.
Residents and motorists using the roads say they are often left in the darkness and fall victim to crime as a result.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says, “In the financial year 2017/2018, we had about 1644 cable theft and vandalism incidences across the City. That cost us about R13 million in money lost by City Power…”
“That number increased to 1865 in 2018/2019, also costing City Power about R18 million in losses and this does not include consequential losses,” adds Mangena.
The entity says the frequency of crime is concerning and it is struggling to contain it.
