Police recover thousand of rands worth of copper cables on Avoca Railway Line

Copper cables to the value of R230 400 were recovered by police officers on the Avoca Railway Line on Sunday.

According to KZN police provincial spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala, officers were conducting an operation with members of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) when they made the recovery.

“Police operations against the theft of copper cables is still ongoing in the province. Our officers who were busy with patrols received information about people who were stealing copper cables at the Avoca Railway line. The team proceeded to the scene and upon arrival they were informed by security personnel that copper cables had been stolen.

“The team followed all possible leads to trace the suspects. About 100 metres away from the scene, the police found 915 metres of copper cable to the value of R230 400. The copper cables were found abandoned and the suspects are still being sought by police,” Gwala explained.

Since the beginning of the lockdown last year, hundreds of kilometres of overhead cables have been stolen and vandalised across the railway network in the country.

Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed last year that R900 million will be spent to fund a Prasa Security Plan to combat theft and vandalism.