Don’t steal cable, we will catch you,” reads the stern warning on new billboards in various cable-theft hot spots in the city.
The billboard campaign was initiated by the City of Cape Town in a bid to fight back against a wave of cable theft, particularly that of street lights.
The first of these were launched in Langa on 27 May by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, and Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith, with more to follow in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
Some initial sites to be flighted in the first phase of the campaign include Eerste River Station, Robert Sobukwe Road in Parow and various sites in the airport vicinity, a City spokesperson informed
TygerBurger last week.
The campaign highlights the 12-year prison sentence handed to a metal thief in September 2023 following his arrest by City Law Enforcement’s Metals-theft Unit, also known as the “Copperheads”.
“We are expanding our patrols, actively rewarding the public for helping us and using technology to turn up the heat on metal thieves,” said Hill-Lewis. “Those stealing cable should know that the City’s new Eye-in-the-sky is now watching and recording hot spots, including with infrared cameras at night.”
Copperheads’ successes
According to Smith City policing operations recovered over 1 700 kg of stolen metal in nine months between July 2023 and March 2024, including over 53 000 metres of stolen cabling.
He says the Copperheads made 115 arrests, impounded 10 vehicles, issued over 2 380 fines and conducted over 1 700 scrapyard inspections over this period. This, thanks to the public for getting more involved to help combat cable theft.
City police responsiveness
City policing operations have responded to 519 reports of metal theft, 70% more than the previous year.
“We appeal to scrapyards, instead of buying the stolen cable, to keep the thief there,” said Smith, “and we will pay them a far greater reward than they would get from selling our stolen cable. The scale of the problem tells us we are not dealing with just small operators, but rather highly organised syndicates targeting our critical infrastructure. The City is throwing many resources at this problem, but we definitely need to see national reforms to turn the screws on the illicit scrap-metal trade.”
The City is currently repairing and replacing stolen cables and vandalised street lights at a record pace with 1 120 street-light cable replacements in April 2024 alone, according to Beverley van Reenen, Mayco Member for Energy.
“In some parts of the City repaired street-light poles are suffering repeat cable theft almost immediately, which is why we need the public to help us catch and convict cable thieves. Working together, we can keep the lights on. Our residents can help by adopting the infrastructure in their neighbourhoods and alerting us to suspicious activity such as theft, vandalism and illegal connections.”
The City is investing R4 billion in grid upgrade, maintenance and security over the next three years to make infrastructure more resilient, and to reduce the scope for vandalism over time.
With rewards on offer for information leading to arrests and convictions, members of the public can help the City catch metal thieves by calling the 24-hour-toll-free number with anonymous tip-offs.
The toll-free hotline 0800 110077 is linked to a rewards system for tip-offs leading to the arrest and conviction of cable thieves.
