City contractor nailed for cable theft

By Rhodé Marshall
14 March 2008

Cape Town’s cable theft task team better known as the Copperheads have caught an electrical contractor, employed by the City of Cape Town stealing copper cables early Friday morning.

Head of the Copperheads, Pieter van Dalen says the task team received a tip-off that copper cables were being stripped in Gumtree Way, Steenberg.

“Upon their arrival the team found seven people in the act of stripping brand new copper cabling. One of the cable drum(s) worth about R100 000 had already been stripped while the other half was still intact.

“We were shocked to discover that the perpetrators included an electrical contractor employed by the city and six of his employees,” says van Dalen.

The seven men were arrested on the spot for theft and for being in possession of stolen property. All City property found in the possession of the contractor was confiscated and will now be used as evidence in the pending court case.

Any suspicious activity involving the theft of cables can be reported by calling the toll free Cable Theft hot line on 0800 222 771.