A review of statistics over a seven-month period shows a considerable increase in cable theft arrests by the City of Cape Town's Metal Theft Unit since November, the city says in a statement.

The increase coincides with higher stages of loadshedding.

“The theft of cables and other critical infrastructure is simply not letting up. Our Metal Theft Unit has made dozens of arrests each month in this financial year to date. There was a downturn in December, which tracks, as many specialised units are redirected to assist with festive season priorities, but in January, again the number of arrests increased. 

"While metal theft is a longstanding issue, there can be no question that the continued loadshedding, and particularly the higher stages and longer outages give criminals the space to do as they please. Not only are they able to operate under the cover of darkness, but where there is no power supply, cables and other electrified infrastructure are far more easily accessible,” says City of Cape Town Safety and Security MMC Alderman JP Smith.

Between July 2022 and the end of January, the City’s Metal Theft Unit arrested 152 suspects, conducted 1 156 hotspot patrols and 1 487 inspections at scrapyards and bucket shops, and recovered hundreds of kilograms of metal, cables and other stolen infrastructure.

In one of the most recent successes, officers arrested three suspects in Elsies River on March 4.

They searched a light delivery vehicle in the vicinity of a scrapyard in the area and found 15 pieces of high mast poles belonging to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.

The vehicle’s occupants could not account for how they came to have the poles, and were arrested for the possession of stolen property, and also in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015.

The public is urged to report any acts of crime, vandalism or suspicious activity in progress to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialling 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.

The city also has a dedicated tip-off line where residents can report crime and by-law offences anonymously, 24-hours a day, on 0800 110 077.

A reward of up to R5 000 is payable if the City's policing resources achieve an operational result that directly relates to information received, like (an) arrest/s, confiscation of contraband or illegal firearms or the recovery of stolen goods.

During general enforcement efforts over the past week, the City’s enforcement agencies made 344 arrests for various offences and issued 58 966 fines.

The Metro Police Department made 62 arrests and issued 4 115 fines.

The Law Enforcement Department made 231 arrests and issued 2 824 fines.

Cape Town Traffic services issued 52 027 fines, arrested 51 motorists for drunk driving and reckless and negligent driving, executed 1 722 warrants of arrest and impounded 324 public transport vehicles.

Between March 3 and 5, the city’s Public Emergency Communication Centre recorded 2 150 incidents.

While this was a reduction from the previous weekend’s 2 239 incidents, the number of assault incidents increased from 159 to 171, domestic violence cases increased from 55 to 74 and a total of 78 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents were recorded, compared to 67 the weekend prior, it says.