​

The City needs the help of its residents to curb the scourge of illegal connections, vandalism and theft to its electrical infrastructure by reporting suspicious behaviour as soon as possible. These are criminal matters that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and relevant authorities must investigate.

The municipality continues to roll out underground cabling, where possible, as a way to circumvent illegal connections, but this will take time. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, incidents of theft and damage have also increased, including severe damage to street lighting.

The City’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department spent approximately R2,2 million between July and September 2020, to replace and repair damaged and stolen infrastructure. Sadly, vandalism, theft and illegal connections often affect the most vulnerable residents in Cape Town. Much of the expenditure was used in Area South, which includes Philippi, Mitchells Plain, Muizenberg, and Wynberg.

‘We have renewed hope after several arrests were made recently for illegal connections. Eight arrests were made in the Gugulethu and Philippi areas and one in Bellville South in September. Tampering, theft and vandalism of essential electricity infrastructure, is seen as a priority crime, and as per Section 2 of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act (Act 18 0f 2015), imprisonment not exceeding 30 years and fines not exceeding R100 million is possible, when found guilty. Electricity theft through illegal connections occurs often, driven by well-oiled criminal syndicates, which operate across communities and especially in areas where people have unlawfully occupied privately-owned land. Informal settlements on City-owned land and in City-supplied areas are almost 100% electrified.

‘We encourage residents to report illegal connections, theft and damage to electrical infrastructure to the City and the SAPS. Some areas in the metro have experienced extended outages as a result of illegal connections, which negatively impact the lives of residents and the public purse. Constant repairs unfortunately place significant pressure on City resources and thus affects our residents, who experience outages and insufficient street lighting.

‘The City welcomes tip-offs and we offer a reward of R5 000 to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest, confiscation of stolen or illegal goods or the handing-in of illegal or stolen goods. This reward is also applicable to information leading to the arrest of people vandalising, damaging or stealing electricity infrastructure or installing illegal connections. We also remind residents that rapid depot closures for COVID-19 cleaning and sanitising may occur, and work will resume once it is safe to do so. This could impact on the time it takes to fix vandalised infrastructure or power outages due to illegal connections,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.

Report damage to municipal electrical infrastructure:

• SMS: 31220
• Email: power@capetown.gov.za

Anonymous tip-offs welcomed:
Residents can give anonymous tip offs if they are aware of illegal activity that is taking place; that has happened or is still to happen. Please call 112 from a cell phone (toll free) and 107 from a landline or 021 480 7700 for emergencies.

End