The arrest of three suspected cable thieves in Mthatha on Sunday afternoon has sparked fresh concerns among authorities who have urged residents and businesses to report any suspicious activities.
The incident reportedly took place at an old sewer pump station that is no longer operational and awaiting to be formally decommissioned, according to OR Tambo district municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane.
It also comes just weeks after the Mthatha Wastewater Treatment Works plant, that had just been refurbished, was hit by criminals and valuable machinery was stolen.
On Monday, Kolwane said the fact that the old sewer pump station was no longer being used did not render its components redundant.
"Nor does it cease to be municipal property," she said.
"The OR Tambo district municipality welcomes and commends the swift intervention by law-enforcement authorities that resulted in the arrest of suspects linked to the theft of municipal infrastructure.
“Every arrest in the fight against infrastructure theft matters.
"When public infrastructure is stolen, it is not only metal that disappears, resources meant to sustain service delivery disappear with it.”
King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality bosses have previously suggested there were suspicions that at least two well-organised criminal syndicates could be behind the vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Mthatha.
This has cost the council more than R30m in repairs this year alone.
KSD municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza said the three suspects, aged between 24 and 32, were arrested by members of the municipal law enforcement team, in collaboration with the district municipality’s information collectors, at the JG Zuma Bridge (previously the Norwood main bridge) near the Norwood suburb at about 3pm on Sunday.
This was after they were seen digging up copper cables at the old sewer pump station.
“A case of malicious damage to property has been opened in connection with the incident.
"The suspects were arrested for further legal processing,” Mampoza said.
Sunday’s incident came less than three weeks after five suspects were arrested during a joint operation at Silverton village while in possession of suspected stolen copper cables with an estimated street value of R40,000.
Two of the suspects were also charged with contravention of section 49(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 for being in SA without valid permits.
At the time, it was suspected the cables had been stolen in Waterfall in Ngangelizwe Township.
“Copper cable theft threatens essential infrastructure and public service," Mampoza said on Monday.
"Residents are urged to continue reporting suspicious activities to the relevant authorities and avoid confronting suspected criminals themselves.”
Kolwane acknowledged the importance of protecting public infrastructure, saying damage to essential services could disrupt service delivery and affect communities.
Though the old sewer pump station was to be decommissioned, some serviceable components could still be recovered and reused in maintenance and repairs elsewhere in the system.
“When those components are stolen before that process takes place, the municipality could potentially lose equipment that could have repaired another facility, restored a system or avoided the cost of purchasing replacement parts.”
She said the district authority was working on measures to strengthen the security of crucial public infrastructure, including the installation of CCTV cameras.
Kolwane said protecting public infrastructure was linked to protecting taxpayers’ money and protecting the services that ordinary citizens of the country depended upon.
Residents were urged to contact the people when they spotted suspicious activities in their areas.
“The greater victory is in preventing the theft in the first place, because when infrastructure is stolen, it is service delivery that pays the price,” she said.
The UDM mayoral candidate in KSD, Prince Mlimandlela Ndamase, said there was a serious and co-ordinated attack on public infrastructure in Mthatha and surrounds driven by organised criminal syndicates, who not only benefitted from the sale of copper and other materials, but equally from the corruption that plagued the procurement system to repair such infrastructure.
“This occurs at great cost to the residents, businesses and the public purse," Ndamase said.
"A dedicated municipal police infrastructure protection service must be established to follow up on information and to actively monitor and secure public infrastructure.”
Addressing a street renaming event in Mthatha on Thursday, acting mayor Sihlwele Nyengane, the current community services portfolio head and mayoral committee member, said though there had been a breakthrough in arresting those who continued to destroy and plunder electricity infrastructure, they were disappointed that some of them were released without being prosecuted for their crimes.
