eThekwini municipality successfully restores power to Morningside and Glenwood after tackling a weekend outage caused by cable theft, highlighting the ongoing challenges of infrastructure crime.
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THE eThekwini municipality has confirmed that electricity to Morningside and Glenwood has been restored following a weekend outage caused by cable theft.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the City said the blackout was traced to a fault reported on Saturday along the cable linking the Municipality’s Livingstone Major Substation and the Kensington Distributor Substation.
“Multiple faults were identified, and further investigation confirmed that the outage was caused by cable theft,” the statement read.
Technicians who inspected the infrastructure discovered extensive damage along the cable route, complicating repair efforts.
Teams from the City’s Energy Management Directorate worked through Sunday and into the early hours of Monday to restore supply.
“Despite the complexity of the repairs, teams from the City’s Energy Management Directorate worked tirelessly throughout Sunday and into the early hours of Monday, restoring circuits step by step and ensuring electricity was fully reinstated to all affected customers,” the statement read.
The city also mentioned that the team's rapid response and commitment enabled a quick turnaround under challenging circumstances. The outage in the two suburbs was one of several incidents reported across the municipality over the weekend.
The municipality reiterated that cable theft remains a serious and costly crime.
“The municipality reiterates that cable theft is a serious criminal offence,” the statement said, urging residents to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities.
Officials added that the Energy Management Directorate is working closely with law enforcement agencies “to ensure perpetrators of infrastructure theft are brought to justice”.
Cable theft “remains a citywide challenge that disrupts services, costing the taxpayers millions annually.
To curb the problem, vulnerable copper cables are being replaced with aluminium alternatives, which are less attractive to criminals, the city said.