Vandalism and theft of infrastructure are crippling South Africa’s metropolitan municipalities, forcing councils to spend more on security when funds should be utilised for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.
The vandalism and theft incidents target both water and electricity infrastructure, forcing municipalities to upgrade security systems.
City Power, the City of Joburg’s entity, reported a staggering 2,192 incidents of cable theft, vandalism and other essential infrastructure crimes in the last 24 months. The City of Cape Town reported 50 incidents, while the City of Tshwane and the eThekwini Municipality admit to having multiple incidents, but remain tight-lipped about the figures.
The South African Human Rights Commission’s Policy Brief, titled How to Address Systemic Sabotage of Essential Water Infrastructure, published in 2025, states that organised syndicates, such as “water tanker mafias,” deliberately sabotage water infrastructure, particularly at a municipal level, with the sole objective of profit-making.
“This deliberate sabotage and vandalism of water infrastructure causes not only a disruption to the water supply but also comes at a huge cost to the fiscus. For instance, it was revealed that the City of Tshwane spends about R98 million per annum on water tankers, with Gauteng province cumulatively having spent over R2.3 billion to supply water through water tankering over five years, viz. between 2018 and 2023,” the Commission stated.
City Power said it is rolling out extensive programmes to protect its electricity infrastructure.
Isaac Mangena, City Power Spokesperson, said the entity continuously reviews and strengthens its security measures in collaboration with relevant law enforcement and security agencies to protect its network, prevent vandalism and theft, and ensure the reliable supply of electricity to customers.
Mangena added that R90 million has been allocated for the installation of the protective enclosures programme and R70 million for the Integrated Security Systems programme, which equates to 7% of the capital budget.
“The protective enclosure programme is to secure the metering infrastructure and limit access to the low voltage network. The ISS programme will upgrade boundary walls at our substations and install intruder alarm and CCTV systems,” Mangena stated.
He highlighted that there is an ongoing programme to secure load centres and other medium-voltage (MV) infrastructure.
“During the previous financial year, City Power spent approximately R20 million on securing MV infrastructure. However, for the current financial year, only R6 million has been allocated for these security enhancement measures,” he stated.
Mangena added that the Eikenhof substation upgrade will provide a backup solution to Rand Water; however, the project will only be completed in 2029. Eikenhof substation supplies electricity to Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station. Disruptions at this substation impact major water pumping operations, affecting 40% to 60% of Johannesburg’s water systems and parts of the West Rand and Rustenburg.
“This year R35 million has been allocated to the project, and the approved allocation is R325 million. The allocation for 2026/7 is 1.5% of the total capital budget,” he said.
He added that these investments form the backbone of the entity’s contingency measures to minimise the impact of failures affecting critical infrastructure such as the Rand Water Eikenhof Pump Station.
Mangena highlighted that City Power treats all unplanned outages, including those suspected to result from theft, vandalism, or other forms of infrastructure tampering, as priority incidents.
He said the total infrastructure-related incidents in 2024/25 were 1,138, and 1,054 incidents during the 2025/26 financial year, adding that these figures indicate a positive downward trend in infrastructure-related crime over the reporting period.
“Over the past 24 months, City Power has recorded a decrease in the number of suspects arrested for infrastructure-related crimes. During the 2024/25 financial year, 383 suspects were arrested; while in the 2025/26 financial year, 280 suspects were arrested,” he said.
Mangena added that convictions increased from 35 in the 2024/25 financial year to 36 in the 2025/26 financial year, reflecting progress in bringing perpetrators of cable theft, vandalism and illegal electricity connections to justice.
The City of Tshwane is upping its security personnel to safeguard its resources.
Samkelo Mgobozi, City of Tshwane mayoral spokesperson, said the City is progressively strengthening the physical security of its critical water and electricity infrastructure through the phased introduction of advanced security technologies at high-risk facilities.
He stated that routine illegal connections, cable theft and vandalism are distinguished from deliberate criminal interference through comprehensive technical investigations that assess the method used, the infrastructure targeted, the scale of the damage and any indication of organised criminal activity.
Mgobozi added that the City’s approach to protecting critical municipal infrastructure is guided by the Electricity Stabilisation Plan, the Water Stabilisation Plan and the Integrated Asset Protection Strategy.
He said these plans recognise that years of chronic underinvestment, ageing infrastructure and inadequate protection left critical electricity and water assets increasingly vulnerable to theft, vandalism and other forms of criminal interference.
“Through the approved 2026/27 Budget, the current administration is reversing this legacy through sustained investment in infrastructure renewal and protection. This includes a R2.8 billion capital infrastructure programme, R1.4 billion for repairs and maintenance and R475 million for security services to strengthen the City’s ability to protect strategic municipal assets. Council has also approved the reprioritisation of R36 million to recruit 100 municipal security guards, strengthening the City’s internal security capability,” Mgobozi stated.
He added that investments are complemented by R10 million for dedicated security infrastructure, including surveillance, access control and monitoring technology, and major projects such as the new Pyramid Substation, where modern security measures are incorporated into the design from the outset.
The City of Cape Town said it is spending millions of rand to boost security. Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, said the City invested more than R57 million in security upgrades at pump stations in the last financial year.
He said these upgrades included constructing and enhancing hard-surfaced areas, reinforced concrete wall structures, perimeter fencing, and infrastructure to support on-site security personnel.
“The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has a dedicated Security Protection Services function consisting of 34 Law Enforcement Officers who provide escorts and stand-off duties in support of operational staff working in high-risk areas. Services are deployed in accordance with an approved Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Requests are submitted by the relevant functional manager and are subject to operational requirements and resource availability,” Badroodien said.
He added that where Security Protection Services resources are fully committed, requests may be referred to the Safety and Security Directorate to consider alternative security arrangements, subject to operational availability.
“All duties are scheduled, tracked and recorded in accordance with the operational scheduling process. Tampering with the power supply of pump stations triggers SMS for ‘phase failure’ alarms and is responded to immediately. Generators and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) installations are installed to supply alternative energy in the event of power failures,” Badroodien said.
He added that over the last 24 months, 28 theft incidents and 22 vandalism incidents have been reported to the police based on City records for Water and Sanitation, bringing the incidents to 50.
The eThekwini Municipality’s marketing and communications director Mandla Nsele said the City cannot share detailed operational information with the media, as doing so could inadvertently alert those responsible for infrastructure sabotage to the measures in place to mitigate disruptions.
“While it is important to reassure the public and stakeholders that the Municipality has contingency measures in place, we cannot disclose specifics relating to bypass networks, alternative supply routes, emergency response protocols or other operational interventions. These are internal strategies designed to minimise the impact of sabotage and maintain service continuity and publicising them could compromise their effectiveness and expose critical infrastructure to further risk,” Nsele said.
gcwalisile.khanyile@nationalmg.co.za