Pretoria - Tshwane law enforcement agencies say the battle against the unrelenting and increasing spate of cable theft across the City's communities is far from over.
This was according to Tshwane Metro Police Department's (TMPD) spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba, who said curbing cable theft in many parts of the City was still a huge challenge for law enforcement agencies.
Mahamba confirmed that there was an increase in cable theft affecting all parts of the City and said the incessant cable theft was part of the reason why areas east of Pretoria experienced frequent power outages for long periods at a time.
He added that other hotspot areas regularly affected included areas north of Pretoria particularly Soshanguve and Pretoria North.
Mahamba said although the City's cable theft unit received and dealt with numerous complaints on a daily basis regarding power outages as a result of cable theft, winning the battle against criminals was something the team was still working hard towards.
Most recently, he said the TMPD cable theft members arrested one suspect for possession of stolen cables.
According to the spokesperson, the members responded to a complaint on Wednesday from an owner of a scrapyard in Pretoria North regarding suspected stolen cables.
Mahamba said the owner of the scrapyard indicated that he had previously warned his employees not to buy cables brought in illegally, however, one of the employees disregarded his warning.
"On arrival the TMPD cable theft members checked the cables and they were confirmed to be stolen from Telkom. The employee was then arrested for possession of stolen cables and will appear in court soon."
"Tshwane Metro Police will continue to fight cable theft which has serious repercussions of damaging essential infrastructure," Mahamba added.
Pretoria News