The Buffalo City Metro has intensified its crackdown on cable theft, deploying a multi-agency task team, increasing patrols and installing new detection technology as electricity and water losses continue to cost the municipality hundreds of millions of rand.
Recent operations have targeted alleged syndicates, scrapyards and even municipal employees, with dozens of arrests recorded since December.
The clampdown has been launched against the backdrop of the municipality incurring electricity and water losses totalling more than R1bn in a single year.
Electricity losses alone increased by almost 38% in 2025 over the previous reporting period.
In a recent radio interview, the metro’s public safety and emergency services head, Advocate Boniswa Mzimba, said combating cable theft remained a priority, with Amalinda, Dimbaza, Wilsonia and Qonce central identified as hotspots.
“In Buffalo City, we see that there are cases where we have seen improvement.
“We have intensified our efforts in those areas [four hotspots], rolling out some surveillance mechanisms, increasing our foot patrols and other patrols.
“The inroads we are making are having a good impact on cable theft and vandalism of infrastructure,” Mzimba said.
The metro brought together police, private security companies, BCM law enforcement and community policing forums in a multi-agency task team to combat infrastructure crime.
Mzimba said the public safety and emergency services department was also working closely with the metro’s water and sanitation and energy and electricity directorates on measures to secure municipal infrastructure.
These included the installation of surveillance cameras and tamper-detection devices, particularly in identified hotspots.
The municipality would not disclose the types of detection devices being used or their precise locations, saying this could compromise their effectiveness.
Police had recorded 46 arrests linked to cable theft since December when the Daily Dispatch last reported on the figures.
Among the arrests made during operations this year were those of two BCM officials in February and a suspect allegedly caught stealing cable from a manhole in Qonce.
Four alleged syndicate members were arrested in January in connection with cable theft blamed for New Year electricity outages in Amalinda.
Police also pounced on a scrapyard owner allegedly found in possession of 7kg of stolen copper.
Despite the interventions, the scale of the losses remains enormous.
BCM’s latest annual report puts electricity distribution losses at 435-million kWh in 2025, up from 315.5-million kWh in 2024 — an increase of almost 38%.
The electricity losses were valued at R831.4m, while water losses cost the metro a further R187.5m, taking the combined value to about R1.019bn.
Of the R831.4m in electricity losses, R573.7m was attributed to non-technical losses, which include theft, illegal connections, faults and billing discrepancies.
The balance was attributed to technical losses inherent in electricity distribution systems.
The annual report identifies persistent theft and vandalism, ageing infrastructure and increasing illegal electricity connections as significant challenges.
It says the growth of informal settlements associated with land invasions has contributed to a proliferation of illegal connections and mounting electricity losses.
Under these conditions, the report says, the municipality spent 90% of its electricity operational budget on repairing and replacing parts of the network to maintain services.
The consequences extend beyond the direct cost of electricity losses and damaged infrastructure.
Extended outages reduce electricity sales, while repeated emergency repairs divert money and staff from planned maintenance.
Municipal spokesperson Luzuko Buku said technology formed part of BCM’s efforts to protect critical infrastructure, though it was not feasible to install surveillance cameras at every municipal site.
“The deployment of cameras is prioritised based on our security risk assessment.
“What we can say is that the municipality has more than 166 major installations [facilities of key significance] with a lot of equipment, and this is in addition to critical equipment that is in our network,” he said.
“It would be impossible to put cameras in every location of our city where there is infrastructure, hence the prioritisation based on the security need and budget availability.”
Buku said the metro was also implementing a revenue protection strategy aimed at reducing electricity losses.
“The inspection of all large power user installations is done regularly.
“We inspect all disconnected domestic prepayment/credit metered services on a monthly cycle to identify tampering and to take progressively more deterrent actions against transgressors,” he said.
Buku previously said the metro had a dedicated cable theft task team working with police, community safety forums and security partners “to track, intercept and prosecute syndicates targeting our grid”.
Residents face significant knock-on effects when electricity infrastructure fails.
In Dawn, near Wilsonia in KuGompo City, resident Chris Goerge said electricity failures often disrupted the area’s water supply because pumps serving the community relied on electricity.
“If we don’t have electricity, the pumps don’t work.
“The thieves know exactly where that cable is running and how they get to trip it,” he said.
Residents in Amalinda have also protested over repeated electricity interruptions linked to cable theft.
Private security companies have also become involved.
Red Alert spokesperson Brett Harvey said the company’s officers regularly encountered infrastructure theft and vandalism.
“Our officers come across it every day in all areas. Roughly, in the past month we have arrested nine suspects,” Harvey said.
The economic consequences are particularly concerning in Qonce, where Black Business Forum president Luthando Bara warned that persistent cable theft threatened confidence in the town as a commercial centre.
“If Qonce Central is increasingly identified as a cable-theft hotspot, it creates a negative perception of the town as an unsafe and unreliable place in which to operate or invest.
“Existing businesses become reluctant to expand, while potential investors may simply look elsewhere.
“This comes at a time when the Eastern Cape desperately needs investment and employment creation,” Bara said.
DA caucus leader in the city council Sue Bentley said theft and vandalism were consuming resources that should have been used to maintain and improve the electricity network.
“The BCM electrical department is unable to do planned maintenance.
“They also have to defer maintenance, which places the network at risk …
“The budget and man hours of the staff have had to be focused almost entirely on reactive emergency repairs,” Bentley said.
EFF leader in BCM Mziyanda Hlekiso said the municipality needed more law enforcement officers to protect infrastructure, particularly at night, and stronger oversight of scrapyards.
“We must make sure that we increase those numbers, and make sure that the [surveillance] cameras work,” he said.
Mzimba urged residents to report cable theft, vandalism and suspicious activity, including scrapyards suspected of receiving stolen copper and cables.
Cable theft and vandalism can be reported to the BCM call centre on 043-050-5683 or to police on 10111.
Daily Dispatch
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