The City of Cape Town recorded incidents of electricity vandalism in the last quarter of 2023 from Oct to Dec. The majority of the incidents occurred in the southern districts of the town.
Considering the same, the city has urged all the communities to stand with them in ongoing fight against electricity infrastructure theft, damage and vandalism.
As per the reports by the City and the South African Police Service (SAPS), the last quarter of the year 2023, recorded 353 incidents of vandalism, theft and illegal connections damage.
Reportedly, the City’s South Area has recorded 271 incidents from Oct to Dec in 2023. The vandalism has cost millions to the city to fix it. The destruction impacts on repair turnaround times as damaged infrastructure often takes time to replace and repair.
The Mitchells Palin district of Cape Town is the highest one to record 137 incidents alone. The district not only includes areas within Mitchells Plain but areas out side of the region such as Lotus River, Grassy Park and Philippi and has become the hotspots of the vandalism.
The City’s Area East recorded 70 incidents, Area North recorded 12, while Area South recorded 271 incidents. Collectively, the 353 incidents of damaged infrastructure of the city will cost R5.7 million to repair and replace.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Energy Councillor – Beverley Van Reenen said that they are seeing much lower incidents in Eastern and Northern regions. While vandalism in Area South and Mitchells Plain in particular remains a challenge.
He added that a large majority of these incidents are taking place under the cover of darkness and during load-shedding. In the last five years the city has seen an exponential growth in the number of incidents.
Moreover, the City Energy teams such as the Energy Law Enforcement and Technical Unit (ELETU) teams have increased efforts to protect infrastructure in communities.