After receiving a R9-million boost to tackle cable theft, City Power will embark on a project that's aimed at replacing underground cables with overhead lines.

City of Johannesburg mayoral committee member for environment and infrastructure services, Jack Sekwaila, who secured the funding, said the project formed part of "new and improved security measures" to make cable theft more difficult.

City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said the project would start in the next few weeks.

"A tender has already gone out and we plan to deploy the new security plan, which includes technology, by April," Mashava added.

In the interim, as part of its short-term interventions, City Power intends to ensure that shrubs are removed in areas where cables run to ensure increased visibility. Vandalised and broken streetlights will also be repaired.

Mashava said loadshedding and other "difficulties" made underground copper cables prone to theft.

"We didn't build our infrastructure for load shedding. So every time we have loadshedding, parts of our network are damaged. Criminals also take advantage of load shedding to steal and damage infrastructure, which is key in delivering power supply," he added.

News24 previously reported that City Power lost an average of two mini substations a day due to theft and vandalism.

Mashava urged customers to continue paying for their electricity services to ensure that the budget for maintenance and planned projects is available.

Over the weekend, Roodepoort residents found themselves without electricity after a power station explosion, which was believed to be linked to vandalism.