Tshwane to spend big in fight against cable theft

Mayor Solly Msimanga says since the start of the year the city has had to fork out an estimated R10 million every month to replace stolen cables.

He was speaking at a post-budget speech breakfast in Zwavelpoort.

“Remember they steal batteries from substations, and in some instances, we find that we have to restore electricity as quickly as possible and we end up bypassing all the panelling that needs to take place,” said Msimanga.

He said it will cost the city between R1.5 million and R5 million to fully repair all the substations. 

Msimanga believes some of the power outages might be politically-motivated, as the country moves closer to election time. 

“Sometimes just a switch is turned off and then you have to go there and you have to deal with ensuring that is cleared. There is a war room that has been established that is looking into who might be involved in this and how they are getting access to the facilities."

Msimanga admitted that the blame for the delay in maintenance and repairs must also be laid at the feet of city officials. 

ALSO READ: NPA dropped the ball, says criminal law expert

“We do suspect that some of our officials are complacent because you find that something is fixed now and two hours later the same problem occurs. You don’t do your job during the day or do it as little as possible and come knock-off time people say they still have things to fix and do and they want to claim over time,” Msimanga explained.

He says the city is now working on a system which will see city officials work in shifts and not use overtime in order to delay maintenance.