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Yesterday, 27 November 2018, I was alerted by council members during our Visible Service Delivery committee meeting, of the concerning upward trend of vandalism and theft of City Power infrastructure.
I’ve been made aware that the cost of this all, including the value of all the material that has been stolen, surpasses R300 million - and continues to rise.
This was cited as the biggest reason to the slowness in delivering electrification of streets in some areas of our city.
Criminals are vandalising street poles, stealing supply cables and newly installed equipment such as Aerial Bundle Conductors all over the city. This includes areas such the Crown Interchange, the Heidelberg/Joe Slovo interchange, and the Grayston pedestrian bridge lights. There has also been a high number of illegal connections which result in street light sections being cut off by Eskom, because illegal connections damage the supply transformers. All of this is having an impact on the quality of service the city is trying to deliver.
We have had many instances of substations being robbed and valuable equipment being stolen from these sites. It means while we’re busy with major and necessary upgrades, we’re also faced with work being undone and millions from our budget going down the drain. There are thugs who want to see us fail, those who think of nobody else but themselves and their selfish gains. We cannot allow these brazen criminals to threaten the delivery of services in our City. It must not happen at all.
Having working streetlights aids with prevention of night-time accidents and crime; and as such, I’d like to urge residents to report theft and vandalism of our street lights to 011 490 7900. You may also report defective street lights at 0860 562 874 or by going onto the City Power website on www.citypower.co.za
I would like to encourage people to report any fraud and corruption activities through our 24hour tipoff hotline 0800 002 587 or visit the offices of GFIS situated at 48 Ameshoff Street, Braamfontein. You may also call the JMPD on 011 375 5911.
For media queries:
Andile Ndlovu
Media Specialist: Office of the Executive Mayor
Email: andilend@joburg.org.za
011 704 7334
