KUGOMPO CITY - KuGompo City residents are taking the fight against cable theft into their own hands.
Resident Chris Botha said Cambridge is frequently plunged into darkness due to the theft of electricity infrastructure.
Cambridge West residents said criminals hide in thick bushes and often use them as hideouts while hacking away at copper wire cables.
One such resident is Anelisa Mbokomba.
"We're experiencing this every week, cable theft every single week, and it goes for the longest periods of two to three days without power.
"We find ourselves having our fridges go bad, unable to do the basic things that we have to do, get our kids ready for school, get ourselves ready for work, just because we have no power," she said.
The Cambridge Sector Four CPF patrols day and night.
They believe communities in the Buffalo City Metro are under siege as cable theft has become out of control.
Cambridge Sector Four's Chris Botha said: "The guys that target the cables or that dig them up, especially, they're not just targeting live cables; they're targeting the backup cables. So not only are your main lines affected, but the backup lines as well, from what we've seen."
The Hawks in the Eastern Cape say that while they acknowledge that cable theft is rife in the Buffalo City Metro, they deny claims made by the residents that law enforcement agencies are losing their fight against the crime.
"I wouldn't say we are not doing enough because we have made a lot of arrests regarding cable theft. Communities are equally responsible for reporting any suspicious activity in their communities. We are trying our best," said Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson, Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana.