[imagesource: Twitter / @jvnaidoo1]

There is not much that thieves in South Africa won’t try to steal.

A banana in your car? Windows broken. Confiscated goods in a police station? You bet. A street light from a tall lamppost? Somehow.

A video has been doing the rounds on social media showing a man skillfully and effortlessly climbing a street light pole to retrieve the light, which he then steals with the utmost casualness.

The thief has been given the title of ‘Spider-Man’ on Twitter, per IOL, and one can only imagine that he does actually have some built-in arachnid-like climbing tech.

Look at him go:

Watch this. Uncontrolled and widespread. pic.twitter.com/a9yfgsZVt5

— jv (@jvnaidoo1) November 14, 2022

The desperation is real in this country – okes have even been seen stealing whole traffic lights from street corners:

Criminals go for anything and everything… pic.twitter.com/BG2vTbQ4LH

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) March 2, 2022

There aren’t many details about where the Spider-Man video was filmed, but The South African reported that it was captured in a Johannesburg suburb.

We can be impressed with this man’s nimbleness but at the end of the day destroying and stealing municipal infrastructure is a crime.

While cable theft remains a massive problem for local infrastructure, without any major consequences, criminals can end up gutting and hijacking whole buildings.

Look at Hillbrow as case number 1 000.

Twitter users have suggested greasing the street light poles. Others point out that the grease has probably all been stolen.

[sources:iol&southafrican]