An aerial view of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall, home of the local Msunduzi Municipality. The Pietermaritzburg City Hall, home of the local Msunduzi Municipality. File Picture
Durban - Msunduzi Municipality is planning to implement around-the-clock security at its primary and secondary power stations as well as its electricity workshops to combat vandalism which has placed a heavy burden on the City’s power grid.
The matter has been tabled before a council meeting for a decision next week. Like many cities, Msunduzi has battled to deal with criminal syndicates who steal copper cables, leading to prolonged outages, which in turn have resulted in protests in the affected communities.
A report which came before the Executive Committee (Exco) has given a snapshot of the challenges the City faces, and the threat posed by criminal elements, and made a number of recommendations to the management team.
“The Community Services Business Unit should conduct a thorough assessment on the prevention of electricity theft and vandalism and a security plan be put in place for prevention purposes,” read the report.
The report cited power stations that had been identified as vandalism hot spots, saying these needed urgent attention. Recently, members of the Infrastructure Portfolio Committee visited some of the sites where acts of vandalism had occurred. Deputy mayor Mxolisi Mkhize, who chairs the committee, has often voiced concern about the issue.
Municipal spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize cited recent incidents as concerning for the municipality, adding that this was the reason behind looking for 24-hour security.
She explained that at the moment the City was using security patrols, and the move for stationed personnel was because it would reduce crime.
“Additional security guards are requested for Mayors Walk/Exchange and St James Pietermaritzburg substations,” she said. “There were recent incidents of vandalism of transformers following power outages in informal settings which were caused by transformers that were blown up.” This was in reference to the protests at an informal settlement in Northdale.
DA exco member Ross Strachan said they would endorse the recommendations because the City’s infrastructure was important for its growth.
“We believe the plan is progressive and that is why we fully endorse it. Any City that wants to move forward not only builds top infrastructure, but also works at ensuring that it is kept safe,” said the DA leader. He added that they also wanted to see the municipality making use of modern technology to avoid placing a heavy burden on human resources.
IFP exco member Dennis Ntombela said they would support the move to beef up security at the City’s infrastructure sites.