page_title: Crime in South Africa
section_title: Power grid
hierarchical_section_title: Crime in South Africa / Theft, smuggling and vandalism / Power grid
caption_attribution_description: English: Cable theft in Buyscelia AH, Meyerton, South Africa
context_page_description: South Africa has a notably high rate of murders, assaults, rapes and other violent crimes, compared to most countries. Crime researcher Eldred de Klerk concluded that poverty and poor service delivery directly impact crime levels, while disparities between rich and poor are also to blame. Statistics indicate that crime affects mainly poorer South Africans.
context_section_description: In Johannesburg vandalism and theft of the power grid infrastructure shows an upward trend. Hundreds of millions of rand is lost to vandalising of street poles and theft of newly-installed equipment such as supply cables and aerial bundled cables. Mini-substations, pole transformers, road interchanges, and lights on pedestrian bridges are targeted by criminals and a high number of illegal connections also damage the supply transformers. Cable theft from stations has impacted train services and endangered passengers in Gauteng, and brought services to a standstill in Mamelodi.
caption: Cut cables at Meyerton, Gauteng
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