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Cable theft in Soshanguve is costing the community

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(PHOTO: Gallo/Getty Images)
(PHOTO: Gallo/Getty Images)

Cable theft in large parts of Soshanguve, Tshwane, has left many community members in the dark and they are demanding answers from government about the situation.

It’s alleged 12 blocks have been affected. However, it’s not clear when the power supply will return to the other areas affected.

Tumi Mmetseng, a community member in Block SS, told DRUM that “there wasn’t power supply on Monday morning and evening, as well as on Tuesday the whole day until late in the evening when the power returned.’’ He said refrigerated food was spoiling because of the electricity outage and he was been forced to rely on takeaways, which are more expensive.

“We can’t charge our phones to set the alarm, wake up and not be late for work. It’s winter but now we have to use cold water and we may become sick. Those are the factors that are challenging.”

Darryl Moss, Tshwane MMC for utility services, says they have conducted a major communication exercise around cable theft. However, community members like Tumi say there hasn’t been consistent engagement between the community and the City of Tshwane department.

“The city loses about R200 million a year to cable theft. It’s also a major problem in the city, other municipalities and places like Eskom, Transnet and Telkom. They also suffer from the same problem,” the MMC told DRUM.

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