A late-night operation in Manenberg ended with four suspects in cuffs after metro police officers caught them red-handed digging up underground cables, a crime that continues to plague Cape Town communities and cripple essential infrastructure, Cape {town} Etc reports.
The drama unfolded at the corner of Thames and Manenberg Avenue, where a group was reportedly spotted tampering with underground lines. Officers, guided by CCTV surveillance, moved in swiftly. Two of the men were found strolling down Thames Avenue, suspiciously coated in sand, while another pair was tracked down and detained in nearby Belinda Walk.
Upon returning to the scene, officers unearthed roughly 40 metres of ripped-up cable, evidence of what authorities believe to be a coordinated act of infrastructure sabotage. The suspects, aged between 25 and 36, now face charges related to damage to critical infrastructure and theft.
City Metro Police spokesperson Superintendent Ruth Solomons confirmed the arrests, crediting the City’s integrated surveillance system for helping officers quickly identify and locate the suspects.
Cable theft has become a multi-million-rand headache for South African municipalities, disrupting electricity, traffic lights, telecommunications and train services.
But this wasn’t an isolated event. It’s part of a much larger problem stretching far beyond Cape Town’s city limits.
In Villiersdorp, about 100km outside the city, residents have been under siege since August 2024. Criminals have repeatedly cut down power poles and stolen copper cabling, plunging the entire town and surrounding farms into darkness. The worst blackout lasted two full days in September 2024. In total, locals recorded at least 10 incidents in just two months.
And it’s not just small towns. In Mitchells Plain, cable theft surged in late 2024 to the point that City officials labelled it a crisis. Damage along Cedars Avenue and Weltevreden Road disrupted electricity and destroyed freshly resurfaced roads. Ward councillor Ashley Potts called for urgent intervention from the City’s cable theft unit as residents grew increasingly frustrated.
Also read:
City of Cape Town pushes for control over police investigations
Picture: Supplied
