In the video a man can be seen scaling the pole before lowering the lamp to the ground and climbing down. He casually rolls up the cables and slings the lamp over his shoulder before walking away.
Buffalo City municipal spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya urged the public to come forward with information on who the culprit might be.
“I saw the video. It was shared yesterday by our task team that deals with electricity, vandalism and general network infrastructure issues. The footage is shocking, disgusting and, quite frankly, embarrassing.
“It’s a reflection of the siege we are under, not only as Buffalo City, but the entire country, due to high levels of vandalism perpetuated by avenues of scrapyard dealerships that make it easy for anyone to steal cables or strip municipal infrastructure. You can see this is becoming brazen,” Ngwenya said.
“If there is anyone with information that can lead to the identification and possible arrest of the suspect, they can let the police know or let us know in the metro. They can [also message us on Facebook] and we will bring it to the attention of the relevant authorities.”
Ngwenya said the municipality worked closely with the SAPS to ensure harsher sentences for those found stripping municipal infrastructure.
“We will raise the issue with the provincial government team that is looking at such syndicates, as well as metal dealerships.”
He said tackling the issue was being stymied by a lack of police resources.
“We are unable to be everywhere all the time. What we have picked up in areas such as the beachfront is that these criminals are using odd hours, [in which we have at times been found wanting], to commit such crimes. We will be intensifying our efforts leading up to the festive season, setting up a joint operations centre led by SAPS.”
TimesLIVE
WATCH | Gone in 20 seconds: East Londoner's daring theft of street lamp
Image: Screenshot
Twenty seconds.
That's how long it took a thief in East London to climb a light pole, remove the lamp and descend more than six metres, before casually walking off with his loot.
The video was captured on CCTV in Saxilby, Amalinda, on Sunday morning.
In the video a man can be seen scaling the pole before lowering the lamp to the ground and climbing down. He casually rolls up the cables and slings the lamp over his shoulder before walking away.
Buffalo City municipal spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya urged the public to come forward with information on who the culprit might be.
“I saw the video. It was shared yesterday by our task team that deals with electricity, vandalism and general network infrastructure issues. The footage is shocking, disgusting and, quite frankly, embarrassing.
“It’s a reflection of the siege we are under, not only as Buffalo City, but the entire country, due to high levels of vandalism perpetuated by avenues of scrapyard dealerships that make it easy for anyone to steal cables or strip municipal infrastructure. You can see this is becoming brazen,” Ngwenya said.
“If there is anyone with information that can lead to the identification and possible arrest of the suspect, they can let the police know or let us know in the metro. They can [also message us on Facebook] and we will bring it to the attention of the relevant authorities.”
Ngwenya said the municipality worked closely with the SAPS to ensure harsher sentences for those found stripping municipal infrastructure.
“We will raise the issue with the provincial government team that is looking at such syndicates, as well as metal dealerships.”
He said tackling the issue was being stymied by a lack of police resources.
“We are unable to be everywhere all the time. What we have picked up in areas such as the beachfront is that these criminals are using odd hours, [in which we have at times been found wanting], to commit such crimes. We will be intensifying our efforts leading up to the festive season, setting up a joint operations centre led by SAPS.”
TimesLIVE
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