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Baba Biblos Lebona

Preventing cable theft and blackouts

Baba Biblos Lebona in front of the BCTT headquarters © Thom Pierce 2023

It took three cable thefts at the local Eskom substation and multiple days without electricity for Baba Biblos Lebona to decide that enough was enough. Taking the livelihoods of thousands of households into his own hands he decided to protect the substation himself, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a little help from his friends. 


This was back in September 2022. Eskom had told them that they did not have the money to keep on fixing the cables and so any subsequent blackouts from cable thefts could go on for weeks if not months. 


Baba created a WhatsApp group and invited others to join him in camping out next to the substation, taking it in shifts to guard the facility in small groups. Unarmed, they rely on their presence and their relationships with councillors and the local community to protect them. 


Ten months later and there are now 35 members of the Boitshepiville Commanders Task Team. Their name is a combination of the three townships that are served by the substation; Sharpville, Tshepiso and Boipatong. The team is a mix of men and women from around the different communities, all passionate about keeping the lights and heating on when there isn't load shedding. It is a completely voluntary role which they are doing to protect their families and their community. 


A converted kraal makes for temporary shelter so that they have a base looking onto the area that they are protecting, and they greet each other with their slogan, “Commanders Morning”, no matter what time of day it is. 


To help pay for their costs; transport, food and data they go door to door in the three communities asking for R20 donations and explaining what they are doing. Some people have helped, others have slammed the door in their faces. 


Even the local businesses, including a Shoprite supermarket, are not willing to help, even though they benefit from the protection that is being provided by Baba and his commanders.


Still, they keep working, motivated by the belief that if they don’t do it, nobody else will.


Boitshepiville Commanders Task Team will be celebrating their one-year anniversary in September and their hope is that they might be able to attract donors willing to help them with transport, food and a container to replace the temporary shelter that they have built.


Baba Biblos Lebona was nominated as an Actionist by Tebogo Rapakgadi.



CREATED FOR positive activism © 2025

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