Cable theft in the Strubens Valley and Little Falls area has left motorists and pedestrians in danger.
Traffic lights at the intersection of Hendrik Potgieter and Zandvliet (Van Staden) roads were vandalised on 16 January, and one of the traffic lights was left lying on the pavement.
Another traffic light was knocked down in an accident at the same intersection and this allowed thieves the opportunity to access the cables protruding from the bottom of the traffic light pole. The remnants of the cables were exposed to pedestrians making their way across the intersection.
But the criminals didn’t stop there. They dug trenches under the three remaining traffic lights located on every corner of the intersection and stole the cables attached to those lights. Thereafter they proceeded to strip the cables in a nearby storm water drain.
To try and combat the theft of cables, City Power installed three heavy duty street lights at the intersection in order to deter criminals from stealing cables during the night. Whether this will work still remains to be seen.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency responded swiftly to queries sent to them by this paper, and on 23 January they were seen working on the traffic lights in an effort to have them up and running by the end of the day.
This obviously didn’t last very long, however. At the time of going to print, the traffic lights were once again not functioning.
Details: Joburg Connect 0860 562 874.
