Cable thieves make loadshedding that much worse

As South Africans reel under the pressure of loadshedding and unexpected power outages, the situation is being aggravated by theft of cables as well as destruction of transformer boxes.

Thanks to the proactive actions of Fidelity ADT Reaction Officer, Somanele Matebane, residents in the Muckleneuk area in Pretoria were able to keep their lights on.

On Monday 16 January Officer Matebane reported on duty late that afternoon. While patrolling the area the power went off in the early hours of Tuesday morning at 03:47. Matebane realised that only one block appeared to have lost power and decided to investigate further. As he retraced his route to check on the substation he spotted a suspect running in the street. The suspect was screaming and the officer noticed his clothes were hanging in shreds and he had burn marks all over his body.

He immediately realised that the suspect had had something to do with the blackout in the area. He managed to stop and apprehend the fleeing man who was injured while trying to steal the cables from the transformer box and had been subsequently shocked by the voltage.

Officer Matebane immediately alerted the Fire Department and Emergency services who treated the man on site before transporting him to Steve Biko Hospital.

All of the information was given to the Sunnside SAPS who will now proceed with the investigation.

“We would like to applaud Officer Matabane on his actions. Load shedding in itself can provide security risks for communities and if this is compounded with cable theft the situation becomes that much worse. His actions have no doubt resulted in keeping the lights on in Muckleneuk this month. It is also a reminder to cable thieves to understand the potential risk of serious bodily harm or even death when they tamper with high voltage cables. This is not the first incident we have seen and it should be a stark reminder to would be thieves,” concludes Leon Muller, Regional manager for Fidelity ADT.

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Compiled on behalf of Fidelity ADT by Cathy Findley PR. For media queries contact Jacqui Moloi on  071 764 8233