Gatvol residents of Rocklands in Mitchells Plain say they are dik of cable skelms targeting their areas at night to steal copper and then selling it at a nearby scrapyard.
Rocklands Neighbourhoodwatch member John Daniels says he was woken up by noise outside his home on Friday morning and saw smoke coming from the base of a traffic light on Merrydale Road.
“I ran outside to chase the thief. I alerted SAPS but they said there was nothing they could do,” he says.
He says the diewe uprooted the traffic light and left it on the side of the road.
“I picked up the traffic light and kept it in my yard for when the City of Cape Town eventually wants to collect it.”
John says the skelms use spades, hacksaws, hammers and other sharp objects to cut the live wires.
“These people are selling the stuff to the nearby scrapyard in Viscount Street but authorities aren’t doing anything about it,” he says.
Clarence Trouncel, 68, says skelms have also resorted to lifting the pavement along Eisleben Road to remove underground cables.
“They are now breaking the pavement to take the thick cables out from underground and leaving big deep trenches along the pavement,” he says.
“There were some early mornings around 4am where we would hide in the bushes and catch the skelms but SAPS doesn’t arrest them, so what’s the point of us trying to protect our community from vandalism and cable theft?”
Luthando Tyhalibongo, City Spokesperson, says they are aware of a signal that was vandalised at Merrydale/Allouette intersection.
“The City can repair minor damage at short notice, but at the extent that signals are being vandalised and cables and components are being stolen, we simply cannot keep up,” he says.
“Defective traffic signals compromise the safety of all road users and also affect the development of and service delivery in the areas due to budgets having to be re-allocated to replace or repair damaged traffic signals.”