Two families woke up without electricity last week Wednesday morning, after izinyoka stole their electric cables. This happened at Madobi village, next to Vuwani, which falls under the Makhado Municipality.

"I woke up very early in the morning and tried to switch on the light, but there was no power," said Mrs Tsakani Shilenge. She told Mirror that she only realized that the cable had been cut off when she went out. "I hardly could believe my eyes and I kept on looking around, thinking I would see the cables, but they were no more," she said.

During the same night, a number of electricity cables were also stolen at the local clinic. The cables that have been stolen are approximately 45 meters long each. It appears as if izinyoka does not just cut any cable but they target the long ones, from the house to the poles.

The same thing happened at the neighboring village of Makhasa where izinyoka stole cables previous week before they proceeded to Madobi. Chief Makhasa confirmed the incident and said that at least five houses were left without electricity. At this stage, several people are guarding these electrical installations at night. Others are keeping the lights or a radio on as a warning system if anything goes wrong.

Ms Sonia Hlungwani, member of the community local policing forum, urged the people of the two communities to assist the police with any information that can lead to the arrest "of these people who behave like nocturnal animals. They must be removed from the community as soon as possible, before they steal even more," she said.