Sharing the modus operandi of these individuals, Ivan Worthington an official in the department told of a band of criminals who execute their plan with military precision. `They arrive on a street normally very early in the morning. They normally have several ladders, they hoist them up and start cutting down cables.' Worthington continued to say that in 20 minutes these culprits can take down a kilometer of cable.

In this vain the city's electricity department has taken a stand to stamp out this destruction of city property. `We are pleading with consumers to afford us some assistance with regards to this issue. We urge consumers to call Metro Police on 031 361 0000 if they suspect anything untoward,' said Allan Spence another electricity employee.
  

There are reported incidences of these scallywags being asked by consumers what their business was and they gladly reply that they are upgrading cables. The electricity departments' policy is that it does not replace cabling that works. `All the contractors we have working for us have one ladder. One vehicle works a particular area and their vehicle should be clearly marked with the name of the contractor.' Said Spence.

'All that needs to happen is that these wrongdoers need to feel uncomfortable. So if a consumer feels he or she can ask for identification, we encourage that they do. This does not in anyway advocate people taking the law into their own hands. The safety is also our first priority and if a consumer feels that the situation might become dangerous, we urge them to either call the electricity department or metro police directly,' said Worthington. Cable theft is a serious issue that has a huge impact on the current energy crisis engulfing the country. On the cost of cable theft Worthington commented that the figure probably runs into the thousands per pole and tens of thousands to re-connect a whole street.

Cost Breakdown of re-connect a metre of cable:

• R9 per metre  to purchase
• Anywhere between R10 - R70 to hang the cable
• R20 - R50 to reconnect

The time factor which cannot be calculated includes; notifying the police, awaiting an insurance claim.  In the Southern freeway where the thievery has become alarming, whole poles are chopped down. This is even costlier to replace at R3000 a pole and all together with the labour this can run into 10 000 of rands.

If any members of the public see any suspicious characters hanging around fiddling with their electricity poles could they please get in touch with Audrey on 031 311 1106.

Issued by the eThekwini Municipality Communications department. For more enquiries please contact Gugu Blose on 031 311 2282 or email
blosegugu@durban.gov.za