Our power went off at 06:00 this morning and came back at 17:00. This doesn't leave me with enough time to put out a reasonable blog today. I haven't even decided on which plant to showcase, let alone doing all the research that needs to be done. Sigh.
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| Cable theft in Johannesburg generated by Grok xAI |
We have avoided such incidents previously because a group of neighbours in our street had cameras installed with a security company for online monitoring. Needless to say, they failed. An alarm should be triggered if there is any unusual activity in the street. This would have armed guards mobilised and on site within a few minutes—well, that was the sales pitch, in any event. Clearly, criminals are neither threatened nor deterred by the presence of cameras. I think they may have been testing response times by the security company, which have been way too long in most cases, and work within those timeframes to do whatever they wish.
Electrical cable theft, particularly copper cable theft, is a significant and ongoing problem in Gauteng, South Africa, and across the country more broadly. Here's what I can tell you based on the information available up to April 10, 2025:
Gauteng, as South Africa's economic hub, has been heavily impacted by cable theft due to the high demand for copper on illicit markets. Criminals target electrical infrastructure like power cables, transformers, and substations because copper is valuable, relatively easy to steal, and has a high resale value, often sold to scrap metal dealers or exported. This crime affects multiple sectors, including electricity providers like Eskom and City Power, telecommunications companies, and transportation networks.
In Gauteng specifically, the problem has led to widespread disruptions. For instance, Johannesburg's City Power reported over 2,000 incidents of cable theft and vandalism in a single year (as noted in mid-2023), costing millions of rands in repairs and security measures. Eskom, the national power utility, has also highlighted losses of billions annually due to cable theft, with Gauteng being a hotspot. A notable effort to combat this was reported in early 2025, where Gauteng authorities shut down over 1,500 businesses linked to copper theft, arresting hundreds in the process. Despite these crackdowns, the issue persists, often exacerbated during load shedding when criminals take advantage of power outages to strike.
The consequences are severe: prolonged power outages, disrupted traffic signals (with a quarter of Johannesburg’s traffic lights affected over four years), and downtime for mobile networks like Vodacom and MTN, which lose hundreds of millions annually to theft and vandalism. Eskom has even started replacing stolen copper cables with less desirable materials to deter thieves. Communities suffer too, with outages leaving homes and businesses in the dark, sometimes for days, and posing safety risks from live wires left exposed.
Theft isn’t just a petty crime here—it’s often organized, with syndicates involved, and has been labeled economic sabotage by officials. New laws, like the Energy Regulation Amendment Bill signed in 2024, now impose harsh penalties: up to 10 years in prison or fines of R5 million for those caught damaging infrastructure or receiving stolen goods. Yet, enforcement remains a challenge given the scale and the involvement of desperate individuals, drug addicts, and sophisticated gangs.
"What does the security company have to say for itself?" I hear you ask. Good question with a very sad answer—absolutely nothing. They’re quite happy to take our money every month, but ‘accountability’? No. They’re never to blame for non-response—because this is far from the first incident where they’ve failed to provide the service for which we pay.
I cannot pray hard enough for this really lengthy process to be over and for us to be in Portugal where we will feel safe and will enjoy utilities and facilities which actually work.
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