A group of 20 officers with their two inspectors have hit the street in the fight against electricity infrastructure vandalism and theft.
On Wednesday 24 May, the City’s Safety and Security and Energy directorates launched a specialised unit – punted as the Energy and Law Enforcement Tactical Unit (Eletu) in Mitchell’s Plain – one of the City’s hotspots for vandalism.
The aim is to assist law enforcement agencies in protecting critical City electricity infrastructure in the metro. During this financial year, the City allocated an additional budget to support law enforcement deployment, enhance security at key points and increase monitoring of critical electricity infrastructure.
At the launch, Beverley van Reenen, Mayco member for energy and her safety and security counterpart, JP Smith highlighted the increased need for this team as vandalism and theft has been on the rise, exacerbated by load shedding.
Smith says the project has been in talks for many years before finally being put to action.
The project is made possible through funding from the Energy Department.
“We have a very different and rapidly changing environment out there. Dramatically escalating prices for non-ferrous metals has created a market, especially for other growing economies elsewhere in the world, where this metal is so desirable, that we have seen organised crime syndicates and more and more criminals entering this and creating mayhem all over South Africa. “This is not just a problem in South Africa, but a global problem,” says Smith.
While reports from first world countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and France all indicate problems with metal theft, Smith says there may not be another area as bad as here, much as a result of Eskom’s electricity management failures.
Van Reenan says: “The team will greatly assist in protecting critical City electricity infrastructure in our communities. In recent months, we have seen an increase in vandalism, theft and illegal connections. Most alarmingly, we have seen an increase in the number of incidents taking place under the cover of darkness placing a large strain on our City energy teams and leaving communities in the dark for longer.”
She continues that this team aims to improve service delivery in communities and will assist in reducing the safety risks of officials while on duty.
“The Energy Safety team’s operating regime will further consist of patrolling red-zones in the metro. These are areas, which we have identified as hotspots for electricity infrastructure crimes. The City’s Electricity Department monitors the data on a monthly basis and we use that information to guide our resources towards clamping down on these incidents. We will also support the newly appointed officers with admin and technical support so they can effectively dispatch their duties,” she says.
“While our committed team of officials across all levels in our City’s Energy Directorate continue to work tirelessly on prevention and mitigation solutions in partnership with the Safety and Security Directorate, we will not succeed without active community participation. We need residents to play their part by reporting illegal activity near infrastructure, including street lights, to the City and the South African Police Service (Saps). We need residents to engage with their Neighbourhood Watches, the City’s Law Enforcement officers, their ward councillors and police.”
Around R6m is the estimated cost of illegal connections in the City.
“Concerns for our employee’s safety has often resulted in a delayed response to power failures across the metro. This dedicated team of law enforcement officers will be focused on keeping employees safe while they work on restoring our city’s power,” says Smith. “The Energy Unit will be integrated with other teams such as the Metal Theft Unit to ensure critical energy infrastructure is protected. The Energy Unit joins the City’s highly trained Law Enforcement Officers in their efforts to protect our residents and officials.”
More than 340 complaints of outages and vandalism have been reported in the metro for the first quarter of this year. Mitchell’s Plain area is among the top complaints, beat only by the Mowbray district, which includes Brooklyn and Maitland areas. These complaints only include City-supplied areas and excludes areas such as Delft, which is Eskom supplied.
There were 10 violent protests around electricity issues in areas supplied by Eskom, including Macassar, Sir Lowry’s Pass and Elsies River. were Smith says the team will also be able to assist Eskom staff who need to go in to repair issues in these areas to restore power. Criminal elements often prevent speedy repairs, he continues.
Safety and security portfolio chair Mzwakhe Nqavashe says closure and monitoring of bucket shops, arresting those who are found in possession of cables and the protection of all infrastructure is part of their goal in combatting theft and vandalism. He says they are working closely with Telkom, Eskom and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.
To report damage to municipal electrical infrastructure SMS 31220 or email power@capetown.gov.za
Anonymous tip-offs to 0800 1100 77 are welcomed and a reward of R5000 is offered for tip offs that lead to arrests.
