The community of Protea Glen Ext 22 in Soweto has clubbed together to ensure Eskom infrastructure in their area is protected from vandalism and theft.
This follows cable theft last Sunday, leaving some community members without electricity for three days.
About 120 houses in six streets were affected.
Community member Mdududzi Hadebe told TimesLIVE they saw the need to protect their electricity power box after cables were stolen during load-shedding last Sunday.
“We had load-shedding between 8pm and 10pm. We were surprised our power was not restored after the schedule but could see other houses in the area had power,” he said.
They logged calls with Eskom but their power was only restored on Wednesday.
He said community members noticed tampering on the box, and it looked like cables were stolen.
“Eskom technicians fixing the problem confirmed cables were stolen and that is when we realised we need to come up with a solution to protect the infrastructure, because we are the ones who suffer when cables are stolen.”
Hadebe said community members held a meeting, and it was agreed they need to build a structure around the box which will be locked to stop further theft and vandalism.
Soweto community rallies to protect electricity box
Power cable theft sees residents dip in their pockets to safeguard infrastructure
Image: Twitter: @macmonate
The community of Protea Glen Ext 22 in Soweto has clubbed together to ensure Eskom infrastructure in their area is protected from vandalism and theft.
This follows cable theft last Sunday, leaving some community members without electricity for three days.
About 120 houses in six streets were affected.
Community member Mdududzi Hadebe told TimesLIVE they saw the need to protect their electricity power box after cables were stolen during load-shedding last Sunday.
“We had load-shedding between 8pm and 10pm. We were surprised our power was not restored after the schedule but could see other houses in the area had power,” he said.
They logged calls with Eskom but their power was only restored on Wednesday.
He said community members noticed tampering on the box, and it looked like cables were stolen.
“Eskom technicians fixing the problem confirmed cables were stolen and that is when we realised we need to come up with a solution to protect the infrastructure, because we are the ones who suffer when cables are stolen.”
Hadebe said community members held a meeting, and it was agreed they need to build a structure around the box which will be locked to stop further theft and vandalism.
Image: Supplied
“We agreed each household should contribute R50, but some were reluctant , so we increased the contribution to R100,” he said.
The building of the structure started on Wednesday nigh.
“We had load-shedding the same night between 8pm and 10pm and we were worried the thieves might come again. We decided men in the area would camp at the power box during load-shedding while the structure was built. We didn’t want to take chances.”
Braving cold winter nights, Hadebe said they used tyres to make a fire to keep warm while thestructure was installed.
Hadede said men did this from Wednesday until Saturday night, when the structure was completed.
The structure is locked and he said Eskom knows about the move.
“We have told Eskom where they will find the keys should they need to access the box for maintenance.”
He said there is money left from their contributions and this will be used to buy barbed wire to put on top of the structure.
“We are pleased we were able to do this in a short time and believe this will stop criminals accessing our box.”
TimesLIVE
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