'The City has spent approximately R62 million this financial year on electricity infrastructure maintenance and replacement. This is a first of a kind campaign to highlight the massive impact of vandalism, theft, and illegal connections that leave our communities, neighbourhoods, and roadways in the dark. Much of our infrastructure is located within our communities, in some cases, right next to residents’ homes. We’re calling on you to help us Protect Your Power and build safer, brighter communities by reporting any suspicious activity anonymously to 021 480 7700.

‘On our side, we’ve established Energy Safety Teams in partnership with law enforcement. We’re also expanding the use of underground cabling and replacing materials that have a high resale value to deter theft. Our Draft Energy budget, totalling more than R76,7 billion over the next three years, speaks to our efforts to invest in streetlighting, to curb energy theft and vandalism, to plan for the growing energy needs of Cape Town in a more affordable and sustainable manner. We ask residents to report illegal scrap metal dealers. We need to work together. The recent major outage impacting hundreds of thousands of households in Langa, Epping, and Bonteheuwel is a clear example of the devastation this crime is causing. So our message is Let's ACT and stand together and help us to protect your power!