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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tshwane has learned that the City of Tshwane received information from a whistleblower as far back as February this year, implicating an individual in both identity fraud as well as the cable theft that has been plaguing Pretoria East.

The City of Tshwane issued a press statement announcing the arrest of this employee for identify fraud, however the DA is concerned that it took the City 7 months to act on the provided information. Furthermore, it seems that claims linking the employee to a cable theft syndicate in the Rietvlei area seems to have fallen by the wayside.

The DA calls on the City of Tshwane to use the opportunity of having a suspect in custody to investigate the allegations pertaining to cable theft and vandalism and bring an end to cable theft in Rietvlei.

The City of Tshwane’s handling of the ongoing cable theft crisis is nothing short of a disgrace.

For Months, the DA Ward 91 Councillor, Henning Viljoen, has raised the alarm about relentless cable theft and vandalism in the Rietvlei Reserve.

Power supply to the Rietvlei boreholes has been vandalised — not once, but twice. This crippled the City’s ability to pump and sell water, causing millions of rands in lost revenue. Still, the City looked the other way while sitting on valuable information and not putting an end to the stripping of vital infrastructure.

This delay is not just incompetence — it is negligence that has cost residents their water security and cost the City millions in lost income. The ANC coalition must explain why they sat on credible information for months, while infrastructure was being stripped and destroyed under their watch.

Issued by Cllr Ally Makafula - DA Tshwane Spokesperson for Community Safety